Fresh Growth

In this episode, Western SARE’s Stacie Clary talks with Anna Merriman of 4M Grain and Livestock in Malta Montana. Anna shares her family’s journey in starting an organic farming operation from the very beginning, by taking opportunities as the arise. She’s transparent about the learning curves along the way. The conversation also touches on farm business management, succession, and balancing multiple business ventures. Discover practical advice on opportunity, organization, and community supp...

In today’s episode, we talk with Sara Wood of Wyoming Heritage Grains and Wyoming High Desert Malt, near Ralston Wyoming. Sara is a fifth-generation regenerative farmer and the operator of the state’s only commercial flour mill. Located in the dry high mountain desert east of Yellowstone, Sara’s and her family’s operation has the distinction of being in one of the first large water projects in the country, started by Buffalo Bill Cody. Sara’s family began homesteading in the area around 190...

Dan Macon is a University of California Farm Adviser and also the operator of Flying Mule Farm in Auburn California. Ryan Mahoney is a fifth-generation sheep and cattle rancher who operates Emigh Livestock, in Rio Vista California. Dan and Ryan are also participating in a Western SARE project demonstrating and evaluating how information from both electronic identification tags and better understanding of sheep genetics could be improve sheep production economic viability. Emigh Livestock pro...

In this episode, we talk with Don McNamara and Donna Rae Faulkner from Oceanside Farms in Homer Alaska. They raise a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, berries, and chickens, ducks and turkeys. They grow all of their produce and nine varieties of Alaska Certified Seed Potatoes without the use of synthetically based chemicals, pesticides, fungicides, or fertilizers. The farm serves their local market. Don and Donna Rae practice Small Plot Intensive Farming (SPIN) and started out borrowi...

Austin Allred, talking about his family's Royal Dairy in Washington, proudly states that rather than contributing to climate change, Royal Dairy shows that farms like his can be an impactful part of the solution — in part by preventing the formation of greenhouse gases and boosting the capacity of his soil to draw down and sequester atmospheric carbon. In this episode, Austin shares his passion and knowledge about the relationship ruminants have with the soil, which effortlessly...

Western SARE completed our second season of Fresh Growth. Thank you for listening! As we are working toward Season 3, we are sharing some special podcasts created by Washington State University students. In this podcast, you'll hear from Shepherd's Grain COO and Director of R&D Jeremy Bunch. He discusses what makes Shepherd's Grain unique and how they work with no-till wheat farmers. The model links farmers with consumers. You'll learn more about the importance of trace...

Western SARE completed our second season of Fresh Growth. Thank you for listening! As we are working toward Season 3, we are sharing some special podcasts. These podcasts were created by students in the Washington State University’s Systems Skills for Agriculture and Food Systems class. The students interviewed producers on topics such as regenerative agriculture, permaculture, marketing, economics, technology and more. We hope you enjoy and learn from their work. In this episode, Tim Nadrea...

Today’s guest is Nathan Hodges, who along with his wife Sage Dilts, runs Barn Owl Bakery on Lopez Island, Washington. He discusses why they are farming and sourcing heritage grains and using them in their baked goods; how the grains are processed locally; how the community plays a big role in their success; the results of his Western SARE research project; and what “right livelihood” means to them. The bakery came first, and then the growing of the grains. Nathan searches for grains that gro...