The Canadian Dairy Industry is made up of hard working farm families and there is no better example than the Schuurmans who operate Milky Wave Inc. from Elmira, Ontario. Jim, Tom and Eric are holding down the fort at home this summer and you can find Henk and Bettina, along with Maple the Cow, somewhere between Elmira and BC.

Follow along on:
Twitter: @CdnMilkTour
Facebook: Milky Wave Inc

John McKeon is the Senior Manager of Organic Compliance, Commission, and Consolidation at Tanimura and Antle. Founded in 1982, Tanimura and Antle is a farm company that grows and sells both conventional and organic produce. John has almost two decades of experience working in the agricultural industry with skills in operations, management, quality assurance, and compliance.

Today, John joins me to share how he and his company are working to fulfill the world’s surging preference for organic produce. He shares the difference between managing a conventional farm and an organic farm, as well as what it’s like to have both. He also describes the business benefits of growing organic produce as well as the challenges many farmers face when transitioning to organic farming.

“There's a lot more going into organic farming than just the health claim.” - John McKeon

 
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: 

• What is Tanimura and Antle and how it started?
• How many acres are organic and how many are conventional?
• What is the Organic Standard and what makes a food "organic."
• The hurdle growers face when transitioning to organic production.
• Financial benefits of growing organic crops.
• The logistical advantages of having both organic and conventional crops.
• Are organic crops difficult to scale?
• Various regulations regarding organic farming.

John McKeon’s Words of Wisdom:

• Changes to the organic regulations typically mean a change to the law as it's written in general.
• Organics take a little bit of a different mindset and toolset when it comes to scaling.
• You want to pay attention to the details when you're growing both organic and conventional crops. 

Connect with John McKeon:

• Tanimura and Antle
• Email: johnmckeon@TAproduce.com
•  

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Dale Murden grows grapefruit on the Border of Mexico. He talks about how his crops are suffering from 16 inches of rain in just a few days. We also talk about farm groups and his thoughts on "the wall"

Please visit my overlords:

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

This episode is packed full. Jacquelyne Leffler is one of the most determined, focused and faithful people I've met. She shares her journey of being a champion Jr. Olympic athlete, competing without an ACL in her knee, meeting Pat Roberts, Kansas Farm Bureau, witnessing President Trump sign the rural broadband bill, tracking down where that money is being spent and details of the devastating drought.

What do you do when you find yourself on the wrong side of a power struggle at the farmers market? Well, if you’re Erin McLean @mcleanberryfarm you stick to your guns and trust that your customers support you. You couldn’t write this kind of drama – sometimes doing what you believe is right can test your nerve.

Tonight I'm delighted to be heading down to the heart of Somerset to talk to farmer, businessman, and entrepreneur, Nick Hiscox @mendipfarmer

We hear about his farm where they produce cattle, sheep and pigs and direct sell the meat to local customers. We then go into his latest project, a community food group, where customers pay a monthly fee in return for locally sourced meat and produce, with the premise that they spend some time on the farm learning about how the food is produced.

Nick talks passionately about the importance of UK agriculture, and also his frustrations wth how we're marketing our products and communicating to our customers as an industry, and his desire to make changes for the better.

We discuss his early career, which included stints milking cows for a neighbour, and bricklaying, before hitting on the idea of recycling tyres in the early 90's which eventually led to a trip to Sheffield and a Full Monty connection! 

We hear how he bought the neighbouring farm after a tense auction, and built a home for his family, and also possibly the best story I've heard on the podcast so far, involving a Bedford Camper Van and the Berlin Wall!

We then move on to talk about family, and some of the highs and lows they've been through together. The main low being the 6 months they spent keeping their eldest son alive in 2016 after his struggle with clinical depression. It's a powerful message, and I urge everyone to listen. 

Nick's a lovely guy, and a great farmer and family man, and it was an absolute privilege to talk to him tonight.

Check it out folks.. 

www.rockandrollfarming.com 

Rock and Roll Farming is proud to work alongside Farmer's Guardian. For more great stories and coverage of Ag issues from across the industry, please visit www.fginsight.com

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be part of the Farm & Rural Ag network. For more great agriculture related podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com

Rachel Laudan is a food historian and award-winning author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History, a book about the rise and fall of various culinary traditions and philosophies. She has over twenty years of dedicated research to the evolution of our food systems. She’s also an engaging speaker who helps industry professionals, students and professors, and public groups see food from a long-term and global perspective.

Today, Rachel joins me to share a brief overview of what food history is all about. She shares her thoughts on various food movements and diets, how traditional foods came to be considered traditional, and why people today have better food than most kings and queens in the past. She also explains the importance of separating processed food from what is “bad food” and what she believes we should consider to be “good food.”

“One should tell food history as a series of expansions, migrations, cuisines, or systems of eating.” - Rachel Laudan

 
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: 

• What encouraged her interest in agriculture and food history?
• Foods we think are traditional, but really not.
• Is there truth to having better sustainability in the pre-processed food era?
• Her thoughts on how to feed the exploding human population.
• Why she thinks corn is an amazing crop.
• Her perspective on the "Natural Food" trend.
• What counts as a "good" food?
• What is "Culinary Modernism"?

Rachel Laudan’s Words of Wisdom:

• We should realize how great modern food is. Average-earning populations can eat better than most kings or royalty in the past.
• Almost everything we eat has been transformed from its natural state.
• If we eat nothing but raw food, the human race will find survival difficult.

Connect with Rachel Laudan:

• Rachel Laudan official website
• Twitter
• Cuisine and Empire
• The Food Paradise

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

MelindaBlue is a 4th generation female wrestling fan who is now an agent. When she saw an online cancer fundraiser that just didn't add up, she stepped in. Listen to her story and let me know if you would have done the same.

Please visit my Overlords' website

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Lee Townsend is a commercial beekeeper. He talks to us about the facts of producing honey

The Ontario Pork Congress is a celebration of the industry that gives us bacon! Chris Crump is this year's OPC President and has spent 35 years probing, measuring and testing pigs all in pursuit of a better pork chop. I approve.

https://www.porkcongress.on.ca

Tonight I'm delighted to be travelling down to the bight lights of Bristol to talk to journalist, Anna Jones @Jonesthejourno 

We talk about her early life growing up on her family's beef and sheep farm in the Welsh borders, and her decision at an early age to become a journalist. We hear about some of her early reporting jobs and her experiences there, before going on to getting a job on popular BBC TV show Countryfile as a researcher in 2006.

We talk about her time on Countryfile and her experiences there in depth, including why it divides opinion amongst farmers, broadcasting legend John Craven nearly being squashed by a 30ft Christmas tree, and I also attempt to find out who the biggest diva amongst the presenters is!

We then discuss her time at flagship BBC Radio 4 programme Farming Today, and some of the differences between working in TV and Radio, and some of the amazing stories that she covered there.

We hear about her Nuffield Scholarship - 'Help or Hinder? How the Mainstream Media Portrays Farming to the Public' and what she found out along the journey, before moving on to talk about her new initiative - Just Farmers - that will actively seek out and train farmers how to talk to the media and improve communication skills, and help to increase the public's understanding of agriculture.

All this and plenty more.

Anna's passion for agriculture and rural life is evident throughout the interview, and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to her tonight.

Check it out folks.. 

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be a part of the Farm & Rural ag Network. For more great podcasts and vlogs please visit www.farmruralag.com

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk 

ROCK & ROLL FARMING IS PROUD TO BE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FARMER'S GUARDIAN. FOR NEWS AND INSIGHTS FROM ACROSS THE AG INDUSTRY PLEASE VISIT www.fginsight.com

For more info on Rock & Roll Farming, visit www.rockandrollfarmingcom 

FoA105 How Farming Maggots Can Convert Waste to Feed with Olympia Yarger of GOTERRA

Olympia Yarger is the Founder and CEO of GOTERRA, an Australian-based waste management company that redefines the idea of food waste through decentralized waste management. Their company’s primary goal is to manage food and animal waste using insects of which the byproduct could be used as a feed additive. This approach is an alternative and sustainable way of feeding livestock that also reduces global waste.

Today, Olympia shares how maggots can help solve global food waste. She describes what it was like to start a maggot farm, how to manage one, and what makes it unique compared to typical farms. She also explains how maggots convert food waste to animal feed and how this could be the future of sustainable agriculture.

“It's one thing to get the flies to do the act and get viable eggs, but it's another to manage consistency of production at any scale.” - Olympia Yarger

 
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: 

• The problems they initially encountered with their maggots when they were starting out.
• What it's like to run a maggot farm vs a typical farm.
• What a Black Soldier Fly farm looks like.
• How much food waste could one shipping container go through?
• How they structure their business model.
• How long it takes to raise maggots.
• What they do with waste that wasn't consumed.
• Food items they can't use in the farm.

Olympia Yarger’s Words of Wisdom:

• You can streamline insect farming in a way that makes it affordable and also gives you access to a wave of ideas.
• There is a need to breed a lot of maggot eggs and refine the system in a way that is commercially viable.

Connect with Olympia Yarger:

• GOTERRA
• LinkedIn

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Clay Graves is in a historic drought. He's only got a small hope for 1200 of his 5000 acres to produce something this year. Plus a lesson on how polyester is a bastard fiber.

Please visit our sponsor (it's)

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Keiran Whitaker talks to us about raising Black Soldier Flies on urban waste. Then using those insects as protein for livestock feed.

Today's episode is brought to you by Alltech. I had the honor of interviewing Bill Northey, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm & Foreign Agricultural Services, during Alltech's #ONE18 event.

We dig deep into the Ag Census process, discuss the Under Secretary and Secretary Perdue's expectations under the Trump administration and discuss the US's trade woes.

A cotton grower in Texas and a soybean grower in Minnesota weigh in on how Engenia herbicide worked for them last year, and how they plan to use it this year.

When talking to consumers about ag, be prepared to answer two questions: Who Cares and So What? Owen Roberts is the Urban Cowboy and he has turned story telling into a science. Literally.

Tonight I'm heading up to Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire in Scotland to talk to soft fruit grower Ross Mitchell @rjmitch21

We talk about his family's farm and their decision to stop dairying in 1999 and expand their 15 acres of strawberries to commercial scale. 

We discuss the polytunnels that they grow all their fruit under, which have allowed them to lengthen the growing season from 6 weeks of mid summer, to 8 months of the year. 

We go into how they're using their geographical location to their advantage, before talking in detail about the 4 fruits they grow at Castleton - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries - and the process from planting, right the way through harvesting, and eventually them leaving the farm on supermarket lorries. 

We also talk bees! 110,000 of 'em!! They're bought in to polinate 10 million strawberry flowers, 20 million blueberry flowers, 1.6 million raspberry flowers, 0.5 million cherry flowers - man do they get through some work!

We discuss their labour force at Castleton, which includes 600 EU workers each year, with 450 being there at peak season, and some of the jobs that they do, before going on to talk about the increasing problem of getting access to European labour, and the serious consequences to the UK soft fruit industry.

We also talk about how the family have invested heavily in renewable energy, and their successful farm shop www.castletonfarmshop.co.uk that's run by Ross's Wife Anna.

All this and much, much more. It was fantastic to talk to someone as innovative and forward thinking as Ross, and learn more about the Scottish soft fruit industry.

Check it out folks.. 

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be in partnership with Farmer's Guardian. For news and insights from across the Ag industry, please visit www.fginsight.com 

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org 

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be a part of the Farm & Rural Ag Network. For more great podcasts and vlogs, check out  www.farmruralag.com 

Dr. Pamela Marrone is the founder and CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations, a company dedicated to finding practical, sustainable pest management solutions that are safe for people as well as the environment. She is also the founding Chair and former board member of the Biopesticides Industry Alliance, a cluster of over a hundred biopesticide and related companies. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for Cornell University.

Today, Dr. Pamela shares the mission behind Marrone Bio Innovations and how their products help farmers through environmentally-safe pest management solutions. She describes what drew her to founding the company and explains why biopesticides are critical for tomorrow’s world. She also enlighten us on the technical aspect of their products and provides examples of how their products can help farmers.

“There's a lot more science and technology behind today's biological products, so they are better than they have been in the past.” - Pamela Marrone

 
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: 

• What the "biologicals" category is all about
• Why are chemical solutions still preferred over biologicals?
• Why "snake oil" products are all but gone.
• Limitations on biological pesticides.
• How they produce biological products.
• What it takes to get approval of their product.
• How they design their products according to storage, use, and user.
• How the agriculture and pest control industry has changed over recent decades.
• What are molluscicides and how do they work?
• The future products of Marrone Bio.

Pamela Marrone’s Words of Wisdom:

• Organic farming is difficult because of weed control, so expect biological weed control products to be a household name in the future.
• Many farmers are also fishermen, hence the need for solutions to water infestations.
• There are different residue rules between export and not export.

Connect with Dr. Pamela Marrone:

• Marrone Bio Innovations
• LinkedIn

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Shilow and Jeff Bennett want to have the mother of all ag Meet-Ups. Their goal is to help bring agriculture together, and create a supportive community.... and have a whole lotta fun.

Please visit our sponsor:

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Lesley and Rob go down to Alltech to interview the people behind agriculture's future ideas. Today we talk with Rebecca Noble and hear how she is helping plants defend themselves against disease.

Have you ever met one of those people who makes your mind explode? Enter one of the hottest names in the food and agriculture world, Brooke Clay. Fluent in pop culture, Brooke shares about her role as producer of Chasing Down Madison Brown. In this episode, she schools me on the phrase Pork Chops & Applesauce, something which I've always believed to be a Schweigertism.

We get serious about savin' booties and the lack of agriculture education involved in becoming an doctor. The show is wrapped up with excellent life advice that is so Brooke Clay.

Important links

• Pork chops & applesauce
• Chasing Down Madison Brown
• Growing lipstick with Jay Hill interview

Thank you for listening! Be sure to subscribe using your favorite app such as Podbean, Podkicker or iTunes. Let me know your thoughts on today's show by finding me on Twitter (@keepingagreal or @jenschweigert), search Facebook or shoot me at email at jenny at keepingagreal.com.