Episodes: 2021

The potential benefits of building a market for carbon credits in agriculture are staggering — and that’s why it’s taking so long. On this episode of Field Work, Zach and Mitchell look at how farmers can work with government and the private sector to get paid for sequestering carbon.

One of the most important resources for farmers interested in sustainable practices is a soil test commonly known as the Haney Test. In this episode, we talk to the developer of the test, Rick Haney, and several cutting-edge producers who say Rick’s insights into soil biology were crucial in helping them change how they farm.

This week on Field Work, Zach and Mitchell talk about the future of tractors with New Holland’s Director of Commercial Marketing, Mark Lowery. They discuss a methane powered tractor, the status of autonomous operations and why we don’t need to worry about farm robots taking over the world (yet).

One way to reduce the climate impacts of agriculture is to shift from annual crops to perennial ones. It’s not a simple matter. In this episode, a Minnesota farmer growing kernza talks about its potential. Joining him is a perennial grain expert from The Land Institute, where kernza was developed into a commercial crop.

Finance, technology, and agriculture meet on Field Work this episode. Zach and Mitchell talk with Marc Schober, director of specialized agriculture solutions for one of the nation’s top farm banks.

Zach Johnson and Mitchell Hora talk to cotton farmer Adam Chappell of Cotton Plant, Ark. Near-bankruptcy forced him to adopt new practices that saved his farm and changed how he looked at farming.

In the first of two episodes about cotton farming, Field Work hosts Zach Johnson and Mitchell Hora learn about the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a new set of sustainability standards. They speak with Dr. Andy Jordan, an author of the standards.

Farmers John and Kara Boyd join Zach and Mitchell on this episode to talk about the challenges of practicing regenerative ag in Southern Virginia. They are also civil rights activists. John leads the National Black Farmers Association and Kara founded the Association of American Indian Farmers.

For years now, Iowa State University Professor Kevin Kimle has been asking his ag students to take a personality test. Zach and Mitchell talk to Kevin about what his findings say about the willingness of farming communities to try new things.

The Nature Conservancy funded a study at Purdue University to look at why some counties have a high rate of cover crop adoption while neighboring counties with similar precipitation and soil types do not. Zach and Mitchell talk with Kris Johnson and Linda Prokopy about what they learned.

In some parts of the country, farmers who try out conservation practices run the risk of getting pegged as hippie farmers.

The conservation culture that took root in Washington County decades ago has new champions today, who are trying to take it to the next level. It includes twenty-somethings like seed dealer Trent Stout, who’s committed to providing expert advice when it comes to cover crops, and Michael Vittetoe, who’s integrating livestock into his operation as part of a broader regenerative system.

USDA is currently collecting farmer and rancher input on strategies to increase agriculture’s role in mitigating climate change. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack joins Zach and Mitchell to talk about what farmers need and what the federal government can do.

For this Field Work episode, Mitchell and Zach continue their talks with Washington County conservation pioneers. These are farmers whose families were on the “bleeding edge” of change in Washington County: Rob Stout and Darrell Steele.

Steve Berger is a farmer whose name comes up a lot in conversations about Washington County, Iowa. As Field Work hosts Zach Johnson and Mitchell Hora sought for clues about the secret sauce behind Washington County’s conservation culture, they knew they had to talk to Steve.

Zach and Mitchell go to planter school! Our hosts talk to Paul Reed, a longtime no-tiller, and Dave Moeller, a mechanic and equipment dealer, about the evolution of planter attachments for successful no-till farming.

In the first episode of our special project, hosts Zach and Mitchell talk with an Iowa treasure and one of the people most responsible for cultivating a culture of conservation in Washington County: former Iowa State University extension director Jim Frier.

In August 2020, our intrepid Field Work hosts Zach Johnson and Mitchell Hora sleuthed around in Washington County, Iowa, in search of the origin story of its robust conservation culture. Zach had his camera handy to document the experience for us.