Podcast Topic: Agriculture & Tech
The Leading Voices in Food
Podcast Topic: Agriculture & Tech
E62: Bert Pitt on Today’s Farming Challenges
November 11, 2019
E62: Bert Pitt on Today’s Farming ChallengesAt the age of 68, Bert Pitt is lean and tan, with Robert Redford blue eyes and a working man’s hands. He’s a seventh generation farmer, raising cotton and sweet potatoes now, and lives in his family’s ancestral home in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Farming is both his job and his heritage, and he passionately believes in the value of small family farms.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E60: A Visit to Middlecreek Farms in the Blacklands of North Carolina
November 4, 2019
E60: A Visit to Middlecreek Farms in the Blacklands of North CarolinaDriving along the North Carolina coastline protected by the Outer Banks barrier islands, I pass swamps, canals and fields. I’m visiting an agricultural region called the Blacklands. The soil is black and fertile and the Blacklands range across eight counties. I’m visiting Middlecreek Farms, a family operation in Engelhard, North Carolina, now run by Dawson and Bethany Pugh. The day’s plan to begin harvesting corn has been scrapped in the aftermath of a heavy rain and the farm crew works in the shop making repairs and doing equipment maintenance.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E68: Tobacco, Hemp & Trade Wars
October 29, 2019
E68: Tobacco, Hemp & Trade WarsSome farmers see industrial hemp as an opportunity to transition away from tobacco. Hemp is widely grown worldwide as a source of both fiber and oil seed. Harvesting equipment and dryers used for tobacco can also be used to harvest and cure hemp, allowing farmers to repurpose equipment they already own. North Carolina legalized hemp production in 2014 as part of a pilot program. Brandon Batten is one of the farmers producing industrial hemp as part of this program.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback Farms
October 28, 2019
E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback FarmsIt’s August in North Carolina and I’m here with Marlowe Vaughan and her father Bob Ivey at Razorback Farm, a family-owned pig farm in Goldsboro.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E54: Farming with Hurricanes in the Blacklands of North Carolina
October 14, 2019
E54: Farming with Hurricanes in the Blacklands of North CarolinaAt Middlecreek Farms, hurricanes shape the way Dawson Pugh farms his land. His property lies just two feet above sea level, and managing water is his biggest challenge.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E52: Hogs and Hurricanes in North Carolina
October 7, 2019
E52: Hogs and Hurricanes in North CarolinaWe’re talking today with Bob Ivey and his daughter, Marlowe Vaughan, owners of Razorback Farms in Goldsboro where they raise pigs as a contractor for Maxwell Farms. Ivey and Vaughan closely follow the news, debates, and lawsuits over pig manure lagoons, odors, and water safety concerns, and they welcomed the opportunity to talk about their own farm operations, and they believe in the value of open communications.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Food Waste & Implications | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E50: Gwen’s Cotton
October 2, 2019
E50: Gwen’s CottonToday we’re talking with Gwen Pitt at the Pitt Family Farm located in Macclesfield, North Carolina, a rural city in Edgecombe County with a population of just 477 people. Gwen is the scout at the Pitt Farm. She scours cotton and sweet potato fields on the 1100 acres she farms with Burt Pitt, her husband of 40 years, looking for insects and testing the soil.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E49: Pitt Family Farm Story
September 26, 2019
E49: Pitt Family Farm StoryMore than 90% of farms in the US are small or family owned and operated businesses. These farms play a vital role in our economy and help to maintain rural populations. But small farms face many challenges, including encroaching urban development, dramatically changing weather patterns, young people moving to urban areas for work, low commodities pricing, and farm financing. What’s more, our farming core is aging. The average age of farmers in the US today is 58. Today we share the story of Bert and Gwen Pitt, seventh generation farmers in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Voice of Farming |
E47: Hickory Nut Gap Farm’s Jamie Ager on Regenerative Grazing
September 22, 2019
E47: Hickory Nut Gap Farm’s Jamie Ager on Regenerative GrazingJamie and Amy Ager, and their extended family, co-own the Hickory Nut Gap Farm business, and the brand Hickory Nut Gap Meats. Both are graduates of Warren Wilson College, and the couple took over running the farm in 2006 with a vision to achieve environmental sustainability through regenerative grazing. What began as a dream is now a thriving business built on relationships, environmental stewardship, and no small amount of courage.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | North Carolina | Regenerative Agriculture | Voice of Farming |
E45: Celebrating Howarth Bouis’ Contributions to Biofortification
July 15, 2019
E45: Celebrating Howarth Bouis’ Contributions to BiofortificationSo imagine that you face a daunting challenge: addressing malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies that affect people all around the world. These are people who live in different countries; they have different diets; and different nutrient challenges. How would you devise a way to affect the health and wellbeing of billions of people, and do so in a way that can be permanent and sustainable? Today’s guest has done just that.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Diet & Nutrition | Food Safety & Food Defense | International Food & Ag Policy |