This week’s episode Cahokia Rice and the River: Intertwined Story of Improvement & Adaptation, seemed to tap brain cells and rice farming terms that I don’t use everyday so I thought maybe putting together a good list of some of that together in a past may be helpful.

Managing Water on Rice Farms

Here are some of the water-focused terms — many of which you can see in the photos below and can also catch in the rice farm tour video we posted with the episode:

Water Control

Like farmers need to control insects or weeds to make sure the crops can grow, with rice, water control is important. This can involve adjusting levee gates or implementing irrigation systems.

Flooded Fields

Rice farming depends on managing water and flooding fields. A flooded field is a field where you are intentionally inundating agricultural it with water, typically to grow crops like rice or even off season to provide a habitat for water fowl. Flooding creates optimal growing conditions for certain crops.

Tarp

I typically thing of using a tarp to cover things in my yard, a pickup truck, etc, but in rice farming, that large sheet of heavy-duty plastic is used to cover aa gap in the levees where water moves between two sections of a field. Without the tarp, the water would simply erode the levee and it would be a pain to rebuild time and time again. in flooded fields to prevent water from seeping through. 

Levees

People along rivers are probably familiar with levees — protective embankments or walls built alongside bodies of water to prevent flooding. Using levees in rice farming is a bit different. You build levees in and around sloped fields to manage water during the process of flooding and draining rice fields. Levees can be straight or curved, it really depends on whether the land is level throughout. 

Levee Gates

Gates are places in the level where farmers can let water move from one section to another. They can be opened or closed to control the flow of water. Blake showed us an earthen gate. 

Other Rice Farm Concepts

Tillage Tools

Tillage tools are used to prepare the soil for planting. Most people talk about tractor attachments when they talk tillage on a farm scale, but Blake talks about the geese as amazing tillage tools as they mow down the field, flipping and stirring up the soil during the winter months when there is a lot of rice straw in the flooded fields. Cracks me up but it’s such a good & accurate image too! 

Biofilter

A natural system that uses living organisms to filter out impurities or contaminants from water or air. Appreciate that Blake describes how the rice field acts as a living biofilter as the muddy water from the river passes through the soil which holds onto any mud, etc, leaving behind clear water at the outflow.

Castmagic is the AI tool (link to Castmagic & give me a referral fee that doesn’t impact your cost) that helps with some of the content shared here and on social channels. It helps me do more faster since I don’t stare at a blank screen. 

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Milk is in just about everyone’s fridge. And cheese, yogurt, sour cream, and ice cream. Especially ice cream. Dairy products are so ubiquitous that it can be easy to take them for granted and not think about where they come from. But let’s take a moment to dig in and get the scoop with some dairy basics we have featured on the podcast. If you still have questions, please speak up!

Shout out to Midwest Dairy for sponsoring the series and helping us line up participants.

Different Ways to Dairy

When I got the chance to tour two different dairy farms, you better believe I jumped at the chance. I always enjoy the chance to compare and contrast, and touring and then sitting down to talk with Anthony & Charlie Coblentz and Logan Courtney. I think like everything, when you are presented with two things, you undoubtedly will see similarities and differences. The physical pieces are easy to catch and various topics were highlighted at each farm as questions were asked.

What was most striking to me, though, was how focused both farms were on making sure their cows were pampered and comfortable. The Coblentz’s black and white Holstein cows like lots of shade and a nice fan to relax under. The Courtney’s Jersey cows prefer to enjoy the great outdoors. One farm milks on a schedule in a traditional milking parlor, the other whenever the girls what to come in and get milked by the milking robot! And those are just a few of the ways their dairy farms differ! But the real thing that brings both farms together is the care they take with their cows. Though they do things differently, the dairy basics are the same. Happy cows make lots of milk!

Dairy and Sustainability Go Hand-in-Hand

Environmental common ground isn’t what everyone expects to find when environmental scientists and farmers sit down together. But maybe we should. The health of our soils, shifting weather patterns and the role of greenhouse gases and more means there is a lot to talk about and work on too.

Some of the cows grazing on the Peterson farm

We talked with Missouri dairy farmer Alex Peterson and Alisha Staggs, a sustainability expert who leads the dairy program with The Nature Conservancy‘s (TNC) North American Agriculture program. TNC is one of the world’s largest and most respected environmental organizations. As it turns out, grazing cows on prairies can have a huge benefit on the landscape, both with manure as a natural fertilizer and having the cows walking across the grasses to gently work the soil. Prairies, with their complicated and extensive root systems can hold as much and sometimes more carbon than trees. According to Alex, this is a win-win-win situation!

And it’s not just dairy that’s getting in on this. Beef ranchers in Missouri are also working with TNC to graze their cattle on the tallgrass prairie as a part of the prairie management plan, eating invasive plants, pushing seeds into the ground with their hooves, and fertilizing with manure. Like Alex’s dairy cows, these beef cattle are helping the prairie build more root mass, improve soil, and capture more water.

Say Cheese! Our Conve with a Cheesemonger!

There are titles that go almost unnoticed, but being a cheesemonger definitely stands out! It took a long time but eventually, I met a cheesemonger. That cheesemonger, Jessica Keahey (founder of Sweet Freedom Cheese in Bentonville, Arkansas), led a virtual meetup and cheese tasting. I was lucky enough to meet her in person when I toured the Coblentz and Courtney dairies, but nothing prepared me for the glorious cheese heaven when I finally made it in person to her cheese shop Sweet Freedom in Bentonville, Arkansas.

I got to try so many cheeses, from the simplicity of a cheddar made with carmelized onions to something seriously adventurous, and I even had to bring some home with me. I learned how to correctly store cheese (hint: NOT in plastic wrap) and the secrets to making a fantastic charcuterie board.

All of that cheese tasting reminded me of our season 2 episode with Farmer Tom in the UK and his Cheese-a-Day Challenge. It’s so great to meet folks who are so passionate about food and love to have fun with it like these do.

Staying Up-to-Date

We love connecting food and farming with a new episode every two weeks. We’ve covered a lot of favorite foods in the past and make it easy for you to find farms in your part of the country with this map. You can subscribe to get emails on future episodes from the website, listen to the podcast in your favorite app and connect with us on social media. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

Connect with Grounded by the Farm Online

We love connecting with listeners/readers online. You can find and follow our podcast in almost any app out there. In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

• GroundedbytheFarm.com for photos & videos, blog posts, show notes, and more. You can even get new content emailed once a week by subscribing.
• Find your favorite foods on our website 
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The post Dairy Basics: Get to Know Your Milk & Cheese appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

This post about a sustainable dairy farm is sponsored by Midwest Dairy. I was compensated for my time, but all wording and opinions are mine.

In the first podcast I posted, background on how my love of discovery about the environmental side of farming led me to spend my entire career in agriculture. And I love learning more. There are always new things to see and do. So when I was invited out to see a dairy farm just an hour from home, I jumped at it. That’s how I ended up spending the day at the Riegel’s Dairy Farm outside of St. Louis with Brian Riegel giving us a tour and talking through everything.

Since I’ve been to several dairy farms in the past, some of the things that excite newcomers are a bit more familiar to me, but there is always something to get excited about. And this definitely proved the case while we were in the maternity barn.

Calf Just Born

We saw a calf that had just been born — mom was still cleaning it up and before long it had gotten up on it’s feet walking!

And then we realized she was getting ready to give birth to a twin! You can see the hooves, below. But quite frankly the cow was so focused on the first calf that she wasn’t trying to push this one out. The new one was born about 20 minutes later I hear, and both are healthy & were up walking around.

Looking at the Dairy Barns

Walking around, it was easy to notice how much the barns are thought through. The maternity barn had areas where the farm team could separate a cow that’s ready to give birth from the others, When a new calf is born, Brian explained, the momma cow can perceive others (cows, people, etc) as a threat to the calf so more privacy is warranted.

Cows that are currently being milked are in another barn nearby, with ready access to the milking parlor. And their day is focused on a good bit of eating and hanging out. We saw cows chilling on beds of sand and a flush of water came through to wash the manure to a lagoon that is monitored and will go back onto the farm’s land to fertilize the crops.

If you look closely you see cows laying down on sand beds in the background, while a flush of water pushes manure toward the lagoon.

Brian talked about how it’s a circle of sustainability. The manure feeds the crops which feed the cows. That’s part of upcycling but there was a lot more when we got into the various kinds of feed grown or supplied to the cows.

Sustainable Feeds the Riegels Use

Dairy farmers are big on nutrition, making sure the cows are getting a balanced diet that really suits the calf or cow where they are. He talks to us about what cows eat and why.

Brian points out that with the ruminant’s stomach, they need a lot of ruffage. People use various types of feed to cover that, his farm grows corn for silage which offers a lot of fiber and energy for the cows according to the University of Nebraska.  Silage is a way of taking the entire corn plant (leaves, corn cobs, etc), shredding it up to smaller pieces and fermenting it under tarps and tracking its quality. And that fermenting process encourages the growth of good bacteria for the cow’s digestive system.

Brian took a handful of the silage to show us. The smell clearly lets you know immediately it’s fermented! Not many in our group wanted to eat it though!

As we walked around, he showed us some of the other components of feed that he doesn’t produce. And several of them are left over from making things people like, that seems like a core sustainable dairy practice.

One component that grabs the attention of beer drinkers is brewer’s grain! It’s sent to farms wet and was pretty warm to the touch. But being so close to St. Louis, Brian said there is a lot of brewer’s grain readily available and experts point to the benefits of the high protein content it offers a cow’s diet. Love that it gets upcycled rather than trashed — that protein goes back into cows making milk for my high protein yogurts and all. When we talked to the guys about farming connections at a brewery, I forgot to even ask about this!

They also use some of the byproducts from a plant that makes grits, not sure a lot of folks in the Midwest eat grits, but down south, I’m guessing there is plenty to dispose of. Brian said it’s a bit dustier than most hominy but it’s similar. I missed snagging a photo of it though.

The last of the food waste type byproducts Brian showed us that his farm upcycles is cottonseed. Cottonseed provides cows with energy and protein as well as some fiber! Everyone got photos of cottonseed! And it’s my favorite — I mean I have been JPlovesCOTTON on Twitter for more than a decade and started blogging in what became Hundred Percent Cotton! Of course Grounded by the Farm (podcast/website/social media) is sort of a combination of so many of those ideas.

All of this stuff gets mixed together with a big machine that delivers it to the cows throughout the day. And the cows enjoy it!

Lots of Sustainable Dairy Farmers

I’ve seen lots of other farmers who do similar kinds of upcycling and love that frequently different parts of the country have some different things that fit a cow’s needs. For instance, dairy cows in Florida get citrus pulp that’s left over from making orange juice and things! And according, to the info Midwest Dairy gave me, that means up to 306 million pounds of food waste can be captured and used by dairies, keeping it from going to landfills. They have a video that captures some of the other sustainable dairy pieces too.

The post How a Sustainable Dairy Farm Upcycles Things to Produce Great Milk appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Urban agriculture. I can’t imagine many people used that phrase 20 years ago but it is certainly a phrase that has grown in prominence. And I think it’s awesome! The more ways we connect ourselves to the production of food — both in the city and the countryside — the more we will appreciate the effort it takes to produce it, the relationship between our food and the environment and I think that simply by prompting us to think more about these things, we think more about eating better. We become more mindful of our food.

We’ve talked to some larger-scale city-farmers in our podcast. Both Natasha Nichols up in Chicago and Tony Tomato here in St. Louis farm in or very close to the city. But urban agriculture can mean a lot of things, even down to pots on a balcony.

Gardens:  Long-Time Urban Ag

Personal gardens have long been a part of the urban landscape. My parents and grandmom liked to garden, my sister has occasionally had a square-foot garden, and I have had container gardens for years and tried raised bed gardening when I moved to St. Louis.  I’m not sure if those things fit the dictionary definition of urban agriculture, but they are all part of my definition of urban ag since they fill a great role in providing people in cities with a touchstone for the farm, soils, and fresh food.

The gardens my parents and grandmom did for years were some of the earliest community gardens in Memphis. We would go to the garden plots laid out at Shelby Farms in the 1970s regularly to plant, pull weeds, water, gather fresh vegetables, and more.

It is great knowing that the gardens continue (at least they are still listed on the Shelby Farms site) and that in recent years they have been thriving! An article from the Memphis Flyer said that interest is gardening had been growing significantly:

“One morning, I saw 30 people,” Griffin says. “The economy probably plays a part. Plus, it seems cool this year to grow your own vegetables. Everywhere you look people are talking about it.”

Early last month, with a phalanx of elementary school children at her feet, first lady Michelle Obama started the first victory garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt lived there. But the national attention to vegetable gardening was already under way.

Seed companies are flourishing, with the nation’s largest — W. Atlee Burpee — reporting a 25 to 30 percent spike in seed sales this year. The National Gardening Association says 19 percent more Americans plan to grow their own fruits and vegetables this year. Even the University of Memphis is getting in on the act, starting a pilot project to grow organic vegetables on its main campus.

The reasons are as varied as the seeds people plan to plant: the taste of fresh produce, the exercise, the fresh air, and the joy of seeing something grow.

via Bumper Crop | Memphis Flyer.

More Urban Agriculture

In the last few years, there have been increases in other types of urban agriculture including urban farms. One of the urban farms I got to see spring to life is Urban Farms in Memphis’ Binghampton neighborhood. And more recently I’ve watched as the food roof project by Urban Harvest STL for downtown St. Louis has sought funding.

The folks at Urban Harvest STL have some great numbers that help you understand the current look of the city — they point out there are “13,000 downtown residents, 88,000 downtown employees, 1 community garden, 30 urban farmers, 920 lbs of food grown in 2012, 182 lbs donated to charity and 860 volunteer hours.” I have to say, I look forward to seeing the numbers grow.

If you are interested in helping grow urban agriculture, what are you waiting for? There are projects popping up all over you can support or you could start one. The EPA has a list of steps to help people create a community garden or expand urban agriculture in their area as well as a page filled with urban agriculture success stories. The steps are:

• Survey the property and identify potential risks and contaminants for testing.
• Test your soil. Consider likely environmental contaminants, pH, organic content, and soil nutrients needed for healthy plant growth.
• Clean contaminants and add soil amendments to create a safe growing environment.
• Consider garden design including location, crops, water, sunlight, lighting, and accessibility.
• Construct the garden to accommodate children, the elderly, and people all abilities. Raised beds, wider paths, and benches can all be used to create a more usable space.
• Plant a safe and healthy garden and enjoy your growing community.

And our friend, Natasha Nichols is working hard to grow farming in her urban landscape. She’s got a vibrant online community, and We Sow We Grow is seeking donations to help acquire more space for teaching and community development on Chicago’s South Side. And more recently we talked to Tony Tomato about his farm that’s in suburban St. Louis and serves the city.

The post Urban Agriculture – Growing More Food in the City appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

There is so much science behind the food we eat, and we’re about to get a little nerdy about some plant science basics! We’ve talked to plant breeders from around the world, Dr. Lee Hickey who works in a plant breeding lab in Queensland, Australia and Dr. Priyanka Gupta who is working on the grasspea in Morocco. Thing is, while plant science as a whole is wildly complicated (there’s a reason Drs. Hickey and Gupta have Ph.D.s), there are some reasonably easy concepts we can all get our head around.

I think a great way to start is to understand how plants move water, nutrients, and energy through themselves. I mean, we’ve all seen how a plant can go from wilted and shriveled to up and perky again after you water it, right? So of course, it’s got to be moving stuff around in there somehow. Plants have vascular sustems just like we do, which is pretty cool when you think about it. Instead of moving blood through arteries and veins, plants move the water and nutrients using their xylem (prounounced zeye-lem) and their phloem (flow-’em – sounds like a football cheer).

Understanding Plant Science & Vascular Systems

Just like for us, the primary components of the vascular system of plants are really the way to transport critical pieces around the plant’s body.

from the Cotton Foundation’s physiology manual

The vascular system on sprouts would be really small and the vascular system of a sequoia would be huge. These systems are designed to transport nutrients, water, and sugars around the plant. The website Biology4Kids.com has a great page (yes, I like the simple language it has compared to my cotton bible, and I’m going to reference it a lot) called Plants: Xylem and Phloem where the vascular system is described in an easy to understand way:

It all starts with a top and a bottom. Logically, it makes sense. Trees and other vascular plants have a top and a bottom. The top has a trunk, branches, leaves, or needles. The bottom is a system of roots. Each needs the other to survive. The roots hold the plant steady and grab moisture and nutrients from the soil. The top is in the light, conducting photosynthesis and helping the plant reproduce. You have to connect the two parts. That’s where xylem and phloem come in.

Xylem Provides the Supply of Water & Minerals

The xylem of a plant is the system of tubes and transport cells that circulates water and dissolved minerals. As a plant, you have roots to help you absorb water. If your leaves need water and they are 100 feet above the ground, it is time to put the xylem into action! Xylem is made of vessels that  move water around. The roots of a plant are what help the plant reach water and nutrients. They help absorb the critical components for nourishment. As that stuff gets into the plant, the xylem takes over. The Biology4kids page says:

The xylem of a plant is the system of tubes and transport cells that circulates water and dissolved minerals. As a plant, you have roots to help you absorb water. If your leaves need water and they are 100 feet above the ground, it is time to put the xylem into action! Xylem is made of vessels that are connected end to end for the maximum speed to move water around. They also have a secondary function of support. When someone cuts an old tree down, they reveal a set of rings. Those rings are the remains of old xylem tissue, one ring for every year the tree was alive.

I wish I could find some old photos I took when I was in the field with one of the company’s soybean breeders because the photos showed a disease called fusarium wilt that shut down the vascular system, basically starving the plant. You can see some pics on the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website. It is dramatic what happens to the plant with the vascular system stops working.

Phloem Moves Sugars/Energy

Photosynthesis is a process we all learned about in grade school. It’s the way plants convert sunshine into energy. Again, Biology4Kids basic explanation of phloem makes this understandable.

Most plants have green leaves, where the photosynthesis happens. When those sugars are made, they need to be given to every cell in the plant for energy. Enter phloem. The phloem cells are laid out end-to-end throughout the entire plant, transporting the sugars and other molecules created by the plant. Phloem is always alive. Xylem tissue dies after one year and then develops anew (rings in the tree trunk). What is the best way to think about phloem? Think about sap coming out of a tree. That dripping sap usually comes from the phloem.

So like we have veins and arteries, plants have xylem and phloem. It’s not a perfect metaphor, but it can help you get your head around the idea of how plants move the water, energy, and nutrients from their roots to their leave and their leaves to the roots. Plant science is one of those things I geek out about, so I really hope you’ve enjoyed this plant-themed mini-anatomy lesson.

The post Plant Science Basics – Xylem, Phloem, and Vascular Systems appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Last spring I bought audio & hardbound copies of a book about black farmers in the presale…. I got my copies as the book arrived at the first book stores! This book has now become a go to for me in recommending materials, but I had missed sharing it here. Knowing how many of us really seek to learn more about black history, especially during the month of February, I wanted to come back to the review it here.

Please note:  This post includes links to purchase the book on Amazon, which may result in income for the website. 

The book I’m talking about is We Are Each Other’s Harvest by Natalie Baszile. I took both audio & hard bound with me on a long road trip. Once I had “read” it, I posted a review on Amazon since many friends who have written books tell me reviews help people make purchases.

Few Black Farmers Remain

I thought I got it. As someone who has worked in agriculture for decades, I know it is too rare for people of color to be at the various conferences & events for farming. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know several black farmers though over the years, and I have learned pieces of their family’s histories and challenges during various visits.

I have watched documentaries and followed lawsuits and knew families who have been afraid of their land being stolen like their neighbors experienced. I knew black farmers faced obstacles in trying to secure loans, purchase land or equipment, get fair prices, etc. As I started my consulting business, I sought out connections with black farmers and volunteered with the National Black Growers Council (NBGC). You’ve heard interviews with some of them here, I especially think of Lloyd Johnson who shared his family’s history with me at the desert table one night and later shared his history on the podcast. I even met the author Natalie Baszile at the NBGC annual meeting.

And yet, I never had the full picture of what has happened over the years.

Researching a Book About Black Farmers

I found Baszile through the novel Queen Sugar and the NBGC and she speaks openly about her father’s desire to leave Louisiana and the racism faced there. Natalie returned to those family roots and found her novel there. She also met farmers who would inform this book. To see her create a world of sugarcane was impressive as sugarcane farmers see their reality in her work of fiction. So to see her dive head first into non-fiction, I anticipated good work, but it’s great.

Baszile has done a depth of research that astounds me. She has taken time to get to know farmers personally. She was a trusted ear for them to talk to and she had done the research with public records to put the anecdotes of individual farmers in context.

The combination of historical research and individual family’s stories makes the book incredibly powerful and I have to say, it hit so hard that I was compelled to read it in a single week, though I occasionally had to step away because the shameful reality that America has still not treated these black farm families equally is a hard reality to sit with. But I couldn’t stay away long as I wondered what came next.

She interviewed people I consider friends and yet I didn’t always know some of the trials their families had faced. Like many of us, hard history isn’t a regular when having small talk or whatever.

The only criticism I have was with the audiobook version, it is a bit harder to understand the shift in gears between chapters since there are a few different types — profiles of farms, historical perspective, essay contributors, etc. The interview parts with farmers felt best understood in print for me when I can picture the farmers and have those deeper voices and the various Southern dialects in my head rather than hearing the reading. Picking up the printed one, the difference seems much clearer.

It Leaves You Thinking A Lot

While I often think so many farmers would like to say they never benefited at the cost of black farmers in their area, it is abundantly clear many have. And because the system perpetuated it, Baszile and some of the other writers she includes in the book speak to that and the systemic issues and some of the options to chart the path forward.

She brought to me a new understanding of the importance of anti-racism work in the food & agriculture space. Thanks Natalie Baszile for writing the book I needed to read and look at. More of us need to grapple with the uncomfortable reality that is detailed in great depth here.

The post We Are Each Other’s Harvest, Detailing History in a Book About Black Farmers appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

For so long, black farmers have been overlooked, underestimated and more by many. It is an honor to share the stories on the podcast from families have long been part of food production. Black History Month is a time to pause and look at the many contributions black Americans have had on our country, our culture and ourselves. In celebration of Black History Month, I wanted to highlight some of these farmers’ voices and showcase their accomplishments and the accomplishments of generations before.

Black History in Farming that Pre-Dates Lincoln’s Presidency

Lloyd Johnson talks through all of that as a black man who has been farming on a large scale for much of his 80-plus years in this episode. He talks about the farm’s history dating back to the days before Abraham Lincoln’s presidency as well as some of the challenges and shifts he has seen first-hand.

His wisdom and life lessons extend well beyond what it is like to be a farmer to some of the things that make it a bit different since he is a black farmer. We ask him for advice for people looking to get into farming, about the creation of generational wealth, as well as some of the changes he’s seen in the St. Louis metro area.

Mr Johnson is not on social media, but is an active member of the National Black Growers Council. For more information about  National Black Growers Council check out the linked website or connect on social media at:

• Twitter @NBGC100
• Facebook National Black Growers Council
• Instagram @nationalblackgrowerscouncil

Urban Farming & Urban Gardens a Way to Honor Black History

Empowering others to produce food for themselves and their families came to Natasha Nicholes through her family history. Her grandmother grew an amazing garden and her cooking skills always left Natasha wanting more.

She has been building a community garden, urban farm & community for years now. She started locally, growing a few plants at a condo and grew to a backyard before getting permission to plant lots on Chicago’s South Side & online. Her community lives the moniker “We Sow We Grow” meeting gardeners where they are and seeing all celebrate each other’s accomplishments and helping them manage challenges.

How to connect with Natasha

• The We Sow We Grow Gardening Chat community on Facebook and WeSowWeGrow on Instagram are primary channels.
• Following on social media you can discover virtual events to help you plan for spring & summer!
• Natasha Nicholes’ blog Houseful of Nicholes  she has a category that shares a lot of gardening information including some projects to do with your kids  she walks through basics like how to read a seed packet.

Growing Purple Hull Peas, Young Black Farmer Terren Moore Keeps Focus on the Future

Texan Terren Moore saw a lot of demand for vegetables locally while in high school. He started a backyard garden at the age of 15 & it wasn’t long until he was expanding to use more land. He’s now nine seasons into the business and investing in capital and improving the farm’s environmental footprint.

We talk about how, as a young black man, he is creating multiple income streams for the future. He explains his business that grew from his family’s love of peas and how education, hands-on experience & customer service make the difference. And he shares his grandmom’s secret for peas that he could eat every day for the rest of his life!

Find Terren on social media

• Instagram Moore.Terren
• Twitter @MooreTerren
• Facebook Moore Farms & Insurance

Ugandan Fish Farmer Produces Fresh Tilapia & Encourages Small Farms

Though Black History Month focuses on the United States, it felt right to include Jean Kaahwa in this list. His challenges may be different, but like the farmers I talked to above, he is also working hard to lift up his community. Jean farms tilapia in Uganda, in Lake Victoria and is working with farmers throughout the country.

In this episode, we talk with Jean about Uganda and the role agriculture plays in the country as well as a wealth of projects he has started as he teaches fellow African farmers how to farm fish. Fish is a growing part of many diets and is a critical protein source for many folks. We cover a lot of ground in this episode including the Ugandan landscape, smallholder farms, exports and getting youth engaged in farming.

You can connect with Africa Agri-Business Services via aagribusiness.com and the company’s social media too as well as look for Kaahwa Jean on LinkedIn.

Connect with Grounded by the Farm Online

We love connecting with listeners/readers online. You can find and follow our podcast in almost any app out there. In fact if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

• GroundedbytheFarm.com for photos & videos, blog posts, show notes, and more. You can even get new content emailed once a week by subscribing.
• Find your favorite foods on our website 
• Grounded by the Farm Facebook Page 
• Groundedbythefarm_ on Instagram 
• Grounded by the Farm on Youtube
• @groundedbythef on Twitter 

The post Saluting Black Farmers for Black History Month appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Family farm transitions are tough to discuss. A lot gets wrapped into it…. not only are you talking about things like retirement or potential death of an older generation, but it means changes in how things are done, recognizing the contributions of younger generations. And many times all of this is wrapped up with generations of family legacy and how best to honor that.

It’s a conversation that farmers acknowledge is tough and some farmers want to farm until they die so the thought of handing over control before them is uncomfortable. But others focus on the outcome they want… successful operations for generations to come.

While Debbie Lyons-Blythe and her husband Duane are planning to be around for decades, they have also chosen to have this conversation openly with their five children, all of whom are now adults. Debbie was nice enough to discuss all of this with us. I think it provides those of us who’s families don’t farm a lot of insight into some of the generational family dynamics that it takes when planning for the future of a family farm.

And for Debbie, having a good farm transition, where expertise and relationships are built among their children, is the only way she thinks they can secure the ranch’s future.

Ranching on the Prairie

Debbie & Duane’s family have both been ranching in Kansas for generations. They are on the ranch Duane took over when his father died young. Immediately deciding to run an operation at 14 was a dive in and swim hard, but Duane felt compelled to continue the family’s legacy. While Duane’s farm transition to running the operation wasn’t ideal, he was able to keep the place going successfully. Later and Debbie & Duane started a family, they decided she’d be full-time on the ranch and Duane would keep the off-farm job to bring home a regular paycheck and keep insurance. They’ve evolved in several ways over the years.

Their operation is in the Flint Hills, which is an area of rolling hills in eastern Kansas. She says they have areas that have stayed in native grasses for generations and she gladly says she’s a grass farmer. Some of those grasses have taproots that go deeper than trees too! She said the earliest settlers in the area found the top soil was so thin that farming is only possible in a few areas, but that native grassland had fed healthy buffalo herds and cattle started being brought in.

The changes from one generation to the next can seem subtle to the outside, but managing risks and looking for returns to the ranch and the land are both paramount. Debbie says she & Duane moved from Hereford cattle to Angus, which may not sound like a big move to some, but the goal of genetic improvement that pays off for customers and the ranch both was reason to make the change. Now they are part of the Certified Angus Beef program so if you buy beef in a grocery store, it could be from their place! And the sons wanted to return to some of the crop production the family had been doing in the past on the land well-suited to that, so they’ve gotten back into growing wheat and things in the past few years as this farm transition takes shape.

We’ve All Seen Farm Transitions Gone Bad

If people in Hollywood wanted to create a reality TV show that would bring all the drama agriculture has to truly offer, I think farm transitions would be the thing to capture. You have fiercely independent people, finances, hopes, dreams, wills and blood, sweat and tears all on the line.

I’ve heard of older farmers who refused to discuss farm transitions even as their children neared early retirement ages among their peers in cities. And I’ve seen young farmers walk away from family operations moving across the country when they couldn’t get any communication because they felt the future was just too uncertain.

Knowing all of that, Debbie says she & Duane have tried to keep the conversation fairly open as their children grew from littles to the amazing adults they are today. All of the five children will own stakes in the land and will participate in some of the decisions but Debbie says those who have come back to live and work on the property will be earning a larger part of the stakes in the farming and ranch operations.

Debbie says communicating, helping each other know what hopes and dreams the rest of the family has is the best path for this farm transition. It’s not easy work, but knowing that all the family wants to see this generation be happy, have a chance to grow and honor the land…. that’s worth the effort it takes.

Of the five children all in their mid- to upper twenties, the three sons (Trent, Eric & Tyler) have all decided to return to the ranch while the two daughters (Meghan and Allie) have found their passions led to other careers. Four of the five have gotten married or engaged and you can see the crowd likes to be together in Eric & CeCe’s prairie wedding photo. It really captures the beauty and happiness of place.

From left to right: Tyler & Katie, Trenton & Brier, Eric & Cece, Debbie & Duane, Allie & Jeff, Meghan & Lance

Growing Multiple Businesses

The Blythe family is excited that several of the younger generation are choosing the ranching life. Debbie says balancing that excitement with the fiscal reality that the ranch has been supporting one household for decades and four households is a radical shift. Each of the households have to look for ways to build consistent income as well as to build equity in the ranch. Debbie says right now that means several off-ranch jobs and later may mean building additional businesses because it’s not as simple as buying a lot of land and adding more cattle.

The oldest son Trent was the first to come back to the ranch. He’s putting his degree in wildlife and outdoor enterprise management to use building an outfitter / pheasant hunting business called Level Creek Outfitters. Eric and Tyler moved back to the area more recently and are working full-time off the ranch while working the ranch evenings and weekends. They are also trying to find the right side hustles to help create income for their households.

A Look Around the Blythe Ranch

One of the the pieces I most love in getting to know farmers / ranchers is seeing the land they work. Debbie has done a few live videos and I pulled this one knowing you will enjoy getting to know her and the ranch dog Roo!

Finding the Blythes Online

So often listeners want to follow the farms/ranches we feature and Debbie like most others is active on social media and Instagram is her favorite channel. You can find her at @KidsCowsandGrass on Instagram and Facebook as Kids Cows & Grass / KS Cattle Ranch. She also has posted a range of content on the KidsCowsandGrass.com website over the years. She’s posted recipes like the best meat seasoning and tips for cooking prime rib, as well as how they train new cow hands on the ranch.

Trenton’s Level Creek Outfitters is on Instagram @levelcreekoutfitters and Facebook Level Creek Outfitters. The website goes deep on information from the types of hunts, licensing, costs and more — check out levelcreekoutfitters.com.

The post Family Farm Transitions Can Be Tough to Discuss, But Critical for Sustainability appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Will Kornegay knows a lot about sweet potatoes. His family has grown them for years. And when I met him, he was repoing sweet potatoes hard online. Eventually I interviewed him to clear up some confusion and I thought it would be good to share the info here too!

Will Kornegay

Back when I chatted with Will, he worked for Ham Farms. He has since moved on to start and be CEO of Ripe Revival, a company that is helping to solve the problems of food waste and hunger. And because he lives in a part of North Carolina where sweet potatoes are grown, he still catches up with lots of sweet potato farmers.

Now I LOVE sweet potatoes. Seriously, have you had sweet potato tots? And you can never go wrong with some sweet potato fries. I also think a baked sweet potato is something to get all excited about. And I remember with a big smile the day each year when a truck would deliver sweet potatoes to our office from a customer in Louisiana. So I had to find a way to sit down and chat with Will.

My Q&A with Will

Why do people get sweet potatoes & yams confused? What are the differences & the similarities?

What is marketed in the United States as “yams” are really a variety of sweet potato, grown in the South. A true yam is a starchy edible root of the Dioscorea genus, and is generally imported to America from the Caribbean. It is rough and scaly and very low in beta carotene.

Yams? Sweet Potatoes? Can you tell?

“Yams,” as the industry and general public perceives them, are actually sweet potatoes with a vivid orange color and a soft moist consistency when cooked. They tend to have a sweeter flavor. Other varieties of sweet potatoes are lighter skinned and have a firmer, drier texture when cooked. Sweet potatoes are smooth with skins that can vary in color, depending on the variety, from pale yellow to deep purple to vivid orange. Flesh colors can range from light yellow to pink, red, purple or orange.

So where did all of the confusion come from? Many years ago when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced into the southern United States, producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types.  Many newcomers to America saw the sweet potatoes and referred to them as yams due to the similarities that were seen from between the sweet potatoes and their native “yam”.  The African word “nyami” referring to the starchy, edible root of the Dioscorea genus of plants was adopted in its English form, “yam”.

Yams in the United States are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the US Department of Agriculture requires that the label “yam” always be accompanied by “sweet potato.”

If you want to see if you can get this down right, you can take the sweet potato or yam quiz!

Are they grown in similar geographies?

Sweet potatoes and yams are grown in different geographies.  Yams grow in tropical climates, primarily in South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.  Sweet potatoes can be grown where there is a long frost-free period with warm temperatures in the growing season. Most cultivars require a minimum frost-free period of 100-125 days, with a minimum average daily temperature of 77 degrees. Sweet potatoes also require almost an inch of water per week uniformly distributed throughout the growing season for highest yields.  These conditions are primarily found in the southern US.

Since the crop is grown in several southern states, what makes those areas similar? What kind of soils are best, the type of season that is best, etc.?

Farming Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are grown primarily in the southern US because the conditions of the climate and the lands geographical makeup are somewhat similar.  Sweet potatoes are grown in sandy, loamy soils, and the season is dependent on the climate conditions mentioned above.  In each of these regions, there is one growing season each year.  Sweet potatoes are a storage crop, which means that they are grown, harvested, and stored throughout the year.  March – October is the average growing cycle for a crop of sweet potatoes from start to finish.  They are then stored to be packed for production until the next crop is harvested.

Here’s how they do it at Ham Farms:

“Each year, our qualified staff soil sample every field during the winter months. This will allow us to make proper fertilization decisions for the upcoming crop.

As a NC Certified Seed Producer, Ham Farms cultivates micropropgated, elite plants in our greenhouses. These plants are transplanted into our fields and roots harvested will become seed stock for the following year’s crop. Using certified seed will ensure a healthy, disease-free crop that is more uniform.

In early March, our seed stock will be bedded in the field. These beds will produce our sprouts or slips for transplanting in May. Precision transplanters are used for planting, to ensure slips are spaced uniformly in rows. Transplanting will usually conclude before the end of June.

Our staff will work diligently after transplant to ensure that fields are cultivated regularly in order to control the emergence of weeds. Sampling of fields and harvest planning will begin in July, as roots will have grown to a marketable size within 90 to 120 days.

During harvest, field rows are turned up using a modified disk which uncovers the sweet potatoes. Roots are hand harvested and graded in the fields. The roots are then transferred into bulk containers and transported to one of our controlled atmosphere storage facilities for curing.

The curing process takes between 4 to 7 days. Curing heals cuts and reduces decay and shrinkage in storage because it allows the periderm to thicken and to reform. Curing also converts some starches to sugars, enhancing the sweet potatoes’ natural flavor.”

What do you rotate sweet potatoes with?

We rotate our sweet potatoes with several crops, mainly soybeans, wheat, cotton, cabbage, peppers, and other the vegetable crops that we grow.

Do most farmers plant different crops?

Farmers choose to plant the crops they plant for many different reasons.  Most farmers plant multiple crops.  Crop rotation is a major motivating factor.  Many farmers will choose to specialize in growing a crop or a few specific crops, and will use other crops to aid in their crop rotation.

For most crops you can see the crop mature, that doesn’t seem as easy with tubers, how do you know sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested?

How do you know when sweet potatoes are ready for harvest? You sample them!

This is done by field testing.  Provided that growing conditions and climate have cooperated; sweet potatoes are mature between 90-120 days.  Once the crop hits 90 days, our farm managers will turn up hills as a sample to see what the condition of the crop is.  Random sampling will give a good idea of each field’s makeup, size profile, and readiness for harvesting.  Once they crop appears to be ready the harvest plan is put into action.  Ham Farms grows over 8,000 acres of sweet potatoes.  Strategy and planning play a very large role in the planting/harvesting process.

What’s your favorite way to have sweet potatoes? Any recipe or cooking tips you want to offer?

Personally, I like sweet potatoes cut up and grilled as fries.    You can also check out a bunch of recipes on the North Carolina Sweet Potatoes website.

For More on Sweet Potatoes and Yams

Farmers like Will have been so helpful in getting grounded on things! I’ve got even more on sweet potatoes from another friend of mine, Todd O’Neal, who told me all about his sweet potato farm in Louisiana on the podcast! We chatted as a part of my holiday foods series back in 2020, but I love sweet potatoes so much that I don’t just consign them to the holidays. They’re great year round!

The post Sweet Potatoes? Yams? What’s the Difference Anyway? appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.