Talking Circle: Niitsitapi Kaakiisin & Agriculture
Join us for a special Talking Circle event as we gather to explore the intersection of Nitsitapi paatapiisini (Blackfoot ways of knowing) and agriculture. This day-long event is an opportunity to listen, share, and discuss how traditional knowledge and sustainable practices can work together to support resilient agriculture and land management within the Blackfoot Confederacy.
EP 73 Diversity is Resiliency – SoR Part Six
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During the growing season of 2023 as summer turned into fall, the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast and Regeneration Canada were on the final leg of the Stories of Regeneration tour. After covering most of the Prairies and most of central and eastern Canada in the summer, our months-long journey came to an end in Canada’s two most western provinces around harvest time.
This next phase of our journey brought us to Cawston, British Columbia, acclaimed as the Organic Farming Capital of Canada. At Snowy Mountain Farms, managed by Aaron Goddard and his family, you will find a 12-acre farm that boasts over 70 varieties of fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, pears, apples, and quince. Aaron employs regenerative agriculture practices to cultivate and sustain living soils, which are essential for producing fruit that is not only delicious but also rich in nutrients.
EP 72 Connecting People to Place – SoR Part Five
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2023 was a challenging year for Canadian farmers and ranchers and for humanity in general. We had droughts, wildfires, floods, an affordability crisis and a number of armed conflicts. According to scientists working with the European Union, 2023 smashed temperature records globally.
And yet, someone like Nova Scotia agricultural producer Rachel Lightfoot still finds ways of being optimistic even after her farm got hit by a polar vortex, a dry spring and a very rainy summer all in the same year.
EP 70 Maximizing Soil Function – SoR Part Three
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Soil is very much alive. And hungry too. Some estimates go as far as saying that there is more life in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on the planet. You just need a microscope to see the vast majority of it. Or you do what grain farmer Blake Vince did, and bury a pair of “tighty whities” (underwear) in the soil to produce proof of the existence of this vast and diverse soil microbial community.
In the soil, you’ve got well-known critters like earthworms, bacteria and fungi and lesser-known ones like protozoa and nematodes, who have this tendency to eat the bacteria and fungi.
In this bustling environment where a lot of things are eating each other, there is an exchange between soil organisms and plants so both sides of the equation get what they need to survive and thrive and produce food for the rest of us living above ground. This interaction between the soil and plants is something that fascinated Blake Vince, who farms mainly soya and corn in southwestern Ontario, it fascinated him at a young age.
Regenerating Humility
Will widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture automatically lead to the rejuvenation of rural communities? Derek, Director of Rural Route to Climate Solutions, shares the insights he’s gained while travelling Canada, interviewing agricultural producers about regenerative agriculture.
EP 68 Bacteria
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If you’re still wondering how best to incorporate regenerative technologies into your daily operations then you might need a crash course, or at least a motivating podcast episode, that speaks to the business of bacteria. In this kick-off episode of the Siksikaitsitapi Agriculture Project podcast series, we sit down with Joshua Day Chief to discuss how growing good bacteria can recharge your soil, plant and water health to make way for producing a better product.
EP65 Grazing Through Drought
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Our hope is that the series can help with the mental health issues the agriculture sector is grappling with right now. Farming and ranching are stressful businesses, but that’s brought to a whole new level when drought hits. By equipping cow-calf producers with information and words of advice from colleagues and peers in the sector on the best ways to get through a drought, things might not be as stressful in the next drought. Things might not look so bleak either.
In this final episode of the series, we are talking to Ralph Thrall of McIntyre Ranch who shares with us his experience managing grass and cows in a pretty dry part of the province.
EP64 Building Dugouts
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Dugouts play an important role in cow-calf operations across Alberta. While some farmers have access to well water, most rely on these man-made reservoirs to provide the necessary water that their cattle need to thrive. However, building, repairing, or expanding these dugouts can come at a high cost, which is why it’s smart for producers to seek advice and resources before breaking ground.
EP59 Women In Ag
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Sometimes the public’s perception of agriculture doesn’t quite fit the reality. For many, when thinking about agriculture, the farmer is often tall, broad – and let’s be honest – masculine. With the number of female farm operators increasing, you’ve got to wonder if this outdated image is about to change.
EP58 Fungi in Drought
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In recent years, mycorrhizal fungi have become a hot topic, especially when talking about soil health.
Mycorrhizal fungi are vast networks of nutrient exchange between plants and other microscopic critters you can find in the soil. Fortunately, the management practices for maintaining this conduit of nutrient exchange tend to be the same ones we’d use in good pasture management.
Can this vast network under our feet help out calf-cow producers in a dry year?
