E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback Farms

October 28, 2019

It’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

At 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

We’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

Today 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

More 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

Jamie 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

So 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 |

 

E38: Diego Rose on Environmental Sustainability and our Food

June 6, 2019

When you make decisions about what to eat, what factors in? Most people think about taste, what food costs, what is available and in some cases the health consequences. But what about the environmental impact of food choices? Our guest Dr Diego Rose has done fascinating work on just this topic.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Food Safety & Food Defense | International Food & Ag Policy | Regenerative Agriculture |

 

E28: Nancy Ranney on Regenerative Grazing in New Mexico

April 26, 2019

If you’re like me, you’ve read or heard of reports and news accounts talking about the negative consequences of producing beef, with greenhouse gas emissions, heavy water use and the welfare of the animals leading the list of concerns. But just when it seems like producing and consuming less beef might be a health and environmental bonanza, along comes an alternative way of doing things. One that uses a fundamentally different approach to things.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Regenerative Agriculture | Voice of Farming |

 

E19: Martin Bloem – Embrace Complexity to Fix the Food System

March 21, 2019

One of the most important questions facing the world is how it will feed itself both now and in the future. Answering this question will require the brightest minds; people who will understand the complex interactions of trade, poverty, climate change, agriculture technology, and the ever-changing political landscape from country to country. And this is just a name, some of the factors. Few people are as capable of seeing how all these pieces fit together as our guest Dr. Martin Bloem, professor, and director of the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Food Insecurity | International Food & Ag Policy |