ag education

This show highlights some unique agricultural and food education programs based in the Midwest. Learn about the work of the Iowa Dairy Center, where community members and students at Northeastern Iowa Community College use the center as their own learning lab. And, we explore how Kalamazoo Valley Community College is training a new generation of sustainable ag and culinary leaders. Meet Mariah Busta, the Dairy Center Coordinator at the Northeast Iowa Dairy & Agriculture Foundation. Additionally, meet the team from KVCC; Kate Miller, the Director of Career and Continuing Education, Lizzie Luchsinger, the coordinator of the Community Culinary & Nutrition program, Rachel Bair, the Director for Sustainable Food Systems and Agrifoods, and Culinary Arts Instructor Kyle Mitchell.

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A new effort to better connect food and agriculture leaders with real-world field experience has kicked off in the Chicago area. Farm Foundation, an accelerator of practical solutions for agriculture, recently started the 2023 planting season by sowing three acres of oats on its new farm in Libertyville, Illinois. The farm is the future site of the Innovation and Education Campus, which will host a range of Farm Foundation programs, including the newly introduced AG 101 Bootcamps.

Joining us in this episode to tell us more about the farm and the plans for the farm/innovation campus is Shari Rogge-Fidler, president and CEO of the Farm Foundation.  Shari has a long career in business and agriculture. She is a fifth-generation farm owner from Nebraska and hods a MBA from Harvard Business School. Her bachelor of science degree is in business administration from the University of Kansas with an emphasis on international finance. 

For more information, on this and other topics, we invite you to visit our websites - www.Feedstuffs.com and www.NationalHogFarmer.com. While you are there be sure to check out our digital editions and our new Feedstuffs 365 platform.

 

On this episode, Johanna Rohrer interviews Raechel Sattazahn, Knowledge Center Director from AgChoice Farm Credit. She introduces the AgBiz Master’s program and discusses the benefits of enrolling in the course. Raechel also gives an overview of the program components and identifies key farm financial skills participants can expect to takeaway.

Raechel and her husband operate a dairy in partnership with their family in Womelsdorf, PA. She is a proud mom, dairy farmer, and agricultural enthusiast known for developing farm business tools to help support the future of agriculture.

This is our first episode in our Young, Beginning, Small (YBS) Farmer Podcast Series, where we’ll explore helpful resources and different types of agriculture! Subscribe for email alerts to stay in the know at mafc.com/podcast.

Episode Notes: https://www.mafc.com/blog/agvocates-podcast-raechel-sattazahn
All Podcast Notes: https://www.mafc.com/podcast

In this episode, Chrissy Wozniak sits down with Kelly Whitman, President & COO of Roto-mix

ROTO-MIX has built its reputation as the leading manufacturer of livestock mixing and feeding equipment, compost mixing equipment and manure spreaders by continually setting standards for the industry. The company was founded in Dodge City, Kansas by Ben Neier and Bill Pullen in 1984. Since that time, ROTO-MIX has grown to include additional manufacturing facilities in Hoisington, Kansas and Sunnyside Washington as well as a retail location in Scott City, Kansas. The marketing arm has over 100 dealers providing local sales and service in the U.S. and sales in over 40 international markets. With an in-house engineering department the company’s leading edge developments specifically meet the ever-changing requirements of the cattle and dairy feeding industry. ROTO-MIX has successfully filed several patents related to the livestock mixing and feeding equipment. As important as our patents are, our most valuable commodity is our 100+ skilled and dedicated employees. Each and every one of them is committed to delivering a superior product to our dealers and end-users. 

"Ben and Jim Copeland were the first two to do this and that’s why the company originally was called BJM, for Ben and Jim Manufacturing. Ben was actually the father of the feed mixer, because before Ben invented the auger box there really wasn’t any way to mix feed in the early 60s. Then he kind of decided he had something going, he had something that worked pretty good, and kind of one of those things - the neighbor sees it and he says I want one, and the other neighbor sees one and he wants one. And Ben started manufacturing the auger mixers." Kelly Whitman

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Aaron and Hansel Kern are owners along with Sue and Rebecca Kern, of Kern Family Farm. The multi-generational farm is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

In this episode,you’ll hear about their passion for community and conservation; trials with no-till and cover cropping; and the transition to the next generation.

The farm is certified organic and they use regenerative farming practices. The Kerns are dedicated to re-cultivating connections between the people and the land in which their food and lives depend upon. They are focused on education, working with apprentices and WWOOFers. The Kerns also operate a grocery store to help provide healthy food to their local community.

Roles are changing on this multi-generational farm. Aaron talks about his knowing about wanting to be a farmer from a very early age, and Hansel discusses his "gently relinquishing management to Aaron."

The Kerns are big believers in cover cropping; working for 20 years toward getting their organic matter up. Hansel gives credit to the next generation for moving away from mechanical spader, going no-till, and having their organic matter grew even more.

Aaron Kern is participating in a Western SARE funded project, Effects of Occultation on Weed Pressure, Labor Costs,  Product Quality, and Yield in Sustainable Vegetable Production in Northern California.

Note: this podcast was recorded prior to the impacts on agriculture due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a follow up, Aaron told us that the farm has gone through changes and stresses. However, the community is really supporting local foods with a renewed interest. Their farm store sales have greatly increased, off-setting the loss of restaurant and farmers market sales. People are reaching out to them for advise on starting gardens and even buying plants from them out of their newfound interest in growing their own food. The interns that live on farm are constantly expressing gratitude to be sheltered in place on a farm in nature. The challenge is keeping everyone, especially those in the high-risk category, safe and healthy.

Learn more about Western SARE: westernsare.org

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