Grain on the Brain

In today’s episode Scott talks to Dale Overton from Overton Environmental about EcoTea. A lot of organic farmers are already using EcoTea on their farms, so we wanted to find out more about the science behind EcoTea. We’ve included some of the results from their results trials in our Resources section on our website.

Transitioning your grain farm to organics, whether you do it field by field or all at once, can have its ups and downs. In this episode, Scott talks to Nic Podoll from the Rodale Institute about how to successfully transition your farm to organics and some of the support available for you along the way.

Today we do a deep dive again into the world of seed breeding and hear about farmers who are developing their own seed varieties. We also get Aabir Dey, from The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security to help us understand a bit more about the policies behind the seeds we use on our farms, how they got there and what work needs to be done to support a fair, farmer-friendly seed future!

Today we have a collaborative podcast episode between Grain on the Brain and the Rural Routes for Climate Solutions. We’re both members of Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) - a national alliance of farmers and farmer supporters advancing climate solutions in Canadian agriculture. We interviewed Karen Ross, Director of FCS to find out more about the ground-breaking policy report they released in February asking the government to support farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Integrating livestock onto your land can have benefits such as reducing wind erosion, nutrient cycling, building organic matter and increasing phosphorus in the soil. In this episode, hear how Ward Middleton has worked with neighbouring cattle producers to integrate livestock on his land.

Have you been thinking about how to build soil carbon on your farm? Scott Beaton talks to Professor Cynthia Kallenbach about soil health, the different types of soil carbon and how to make deposits into both your soil chequing and savings accounts.

Why should we be aiming to increase biodiversity on our farms? What role do pollinators play in improving our crops and the land that we as grain farmers manage? Our host, Scott Beaton, talks to native seed specialist Stephanie Frischie from the Xerces Society and farmer Allison Squires about why we should be thinking about biodiversity, and how we can start to go about doing it. Mike Killewald from the University of Manitoba tells us about the four-year pollinator project he's working on with some of the results for its first year.

Thinking about growing a cover crop this year? What are my #covercropgoals? How can I manage my problem weeds like wild oats and Canada thistle with cover crops? Can you use too much moisture when growing a cover crop? Will cover crops tie up all my nutrients? Scott Beaton asks Kevin Elmy all your burning cover crops questions in this episode. We also have Callum Morrison from the U of Manitoba telling us about a cover crop survey he’s been working on!