Hey everyone! This is Jordan with some bonus listening for you. As you may know, I’m the producer and host of The Organic BC Podcast, and over there, I’ve been busy producing a miniseries about whether GAP certification is a viable option for small-scale farmers who want to gain, preserve, or expand access to wholesale marketing channels. You’re about to hear episode one of that series, exactly as it dropped on The Organic BC podcast feed. If you like it, you can go find the organic BC podcast a...
Jan 17, 2025•37 min
Hey there, Ruminant Listeners! These days, I'm mostly podcasting over at Farming in British Columbia , and I wanted to share a popular episode on a topic that matters wherever you're farming! If you like this, come and join the party. A good number of the episodes will hold interest for those outside of BC...search for 'Farming in British Columbia' wherever you listen to podcasts.
Sep 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min
In the summer of 2023, Bruce Lanphear , Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, resigned his position as co-chair of a recently formed Science Advisory Committee of the PMRA, which regulates pesticide use in Canada. Dr. Lanphear felt he could no longer lend his credibility to the agency following disagreement about the Terms of Reference provided to Lanphear and seven other scientists comprising the committee. Lanphear has been critical of aspects of Canada's pesticide oversight...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 11Ep. 1
The Ruminant's first ever holiday special! Fellow Canadians, don't @ me. The original version of this piece was produced for Canadian Thanksgiving, for radio.
Nov 22, 2022•15 min•Season 10Ep. 6
The US chicken industry is dominated by just a few very large, vertically integrated companies. They directly control every stage of chicken production from hatching to distribution, except that they outsource the riskiest stage--raising the birds from chick to mature bird--to independent farmers. In this episode, guest Patti Anderson of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future describes this system, explains how it traps many farmers in debt, and tells us about the most recent effort to ma...
Sep 17, 2022•47 min•Season 10Ep. 5
This ep: we introduce a new segment called Farm Sounds. This time: when the tradeoff that comes with a gain in efficiency on the farm doesn't feel worth it. Plus another installment of The Farmer Questionnaire.
Jul 10, 2022•24 min•Season 10Ep. 4
This episode I speak with Dr. Patrick Byrne, Professor Emeritus of Plant Breeding and Genetics at Colorado State University. Our topic: crop wild relatives, the forebears to all of the agricultural crops we love and depend on. Patrick helps us understand the relationship between, say, Teosinte and modern corn, and why the conservation of these wild relatives is crucial to the improvement of our crop cultivars. Links: Grin-U.org : a great repository for online learning materials on plant genetic ...
Jun 02, 2022•54 min•Season 10Ep. 3
The interview we planned to record yesterday and release today was postponed, so I dug up the very first episode of the show, from way back in 2012, until now never released on the newer podcast feed. It's an interview with Jason Beam about potting blocks, you lucky ducks. We'll be back with a new episode in two weeks, promise.
May 19, 2022•1 hr 7 min
This episode: to mark the release of an update (sort of?) to Netflix's big, farmy 2018 hit The Biggest Little Farm , herein we review both the original documentary (Netflix) and an update, called The Return of the Biggest Little Farm , which dropped on Disney+ on Earth Day. Also: another installment of The Farmer Questionnaire! This episode was produced by Jordan Marr & Philippa Mennell.
May 05, 2022•42 min•Season 10Ep. 3
This episode, three farmers who slaughter animals reflect on the experience of encountering hate, vitriol and worse from animal rights activists. This episode was produced by Jordan Marr & Philippa Mennell.
Apr 21, 2022•48 min•Season 10Ep. 2
This episode: Rebecca Kneen, a BC-based organic farmer & brewer , whose roots and activism in the organic sector go back decades, on the evolution of organic standards and oversight over time, some aspects of which she has misgivings about. Rebecca put her thoughts down in an open letter that was the basis for this coversation; you can download a PDF of that letter here. Also: Jessica Bell of Split Creek Farm Grade A Goat Dairy in South Carolina answers our first ever Farmer Questionnaire!...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr•Season 10Ep. 1
Hi Everyone! Herein: four audio segments I think you'll enjoy. Each comes from a 25-episode podcast series I'm in the middle of producing for my province's annual organic conference. So yeah, this is a teaser for the conference, but be assured that each segment in this episode stands alone as an interesting piece of audio on its own merits. More info on the conference here: https://bcorganic2021.eventbrite.ca
Jan 08, 2021•57 min
I've had it with trying to produce a show during the farming season so I cut out a lot of production & administrative BS by just cold-calling people to see what they have to say. Episode 3.
Jul 16, 2020•34 min
Episode two of driving around and cold-calling people. Mainly farmers and extension specialists. A good mix of strangers and friends. Mostly to talk about the pandemic, but really to talk about anything food or farming related.
Jun 22, 2020•55 min
In which your host catches you up on things as quickly as possible, and then makes some calls.
Jun 12, 2020•30 min
Tristan Banwell, BC-based rancher and occasional co-host of the show, recorded this interview with Sarah Flack, author of The Art and Science of Grazing : How Grass Farmers Can Create Sustainable Systems for Healthy Animals and Farm Ecosystems. From Sarah’s website : Sarah Flack is an author and consultant specializing in providing practical information on grass based and organic livestock production to farmers, organizations, institutions and individuals. She has a diverse background in sustain...
Jun 19, 2019•52 min
This ep: my interview with Alex Lyon, a UBC Postdoctoral Fellow focused on seed systems and plant breeding for diverse farm environments. Alex is involved in a number of projects that recruit commercial farmers to assist in the development of better seeds, and she joins me on the show to talk about them. Show sponsor: The Small-Scale Meat Producers Association of BC...
Jun 03, 2019•45 min
This ep: a few perspectives from members of the LGBTQ community who farm This ep: a few perspectives from members of the LGBTQ community who farm Show sponsors: BCS America BC Small-Scale Meat Producers Association
May 20, 2019•1 hr 15 min
In which your host tells you all about his experiences sourcing certain farm equipment using Alibaba, the massive, China-based gathering place for buyers and manufacturers. He'll take you through all the steps, from confusion to suspicion to curiousity to impulsivity, before cruising through anxiety and ending up at ambivalent satisfaction. Plenty of tips in here! All the Alibaba tips! The specific supplier mentioned in this episode is Shijiazhuang Daoliangmou Trade Co. , and my contact there is...
Feb 22, 2019•36 min
My guest this ep is Stefan Morales, producer of the Working Together podcast. Stefan and I both care about food and farming. I brought my passions to farming; he took his into the non-profit and government sphere. We compare notes, things get mildly awkward, and a farmer's heart grows by a couple of sizes. Or: a guy with good insights about the workings of bureaucracy offers advice for reformers about how to engage with it. Episode Sponsor: Dubois Agrinovation...
Feb 21, 2019•52 min
This ep: my conversation with urban farmer Kevin Sturdy, author of a book getting a lot of buzz: You're Welcome: How to Crush Your Dreams By Grossing More Money on Less Land Than You Ever Thought Possible. Kevin claims that by following his guide, you can gross 250K on a half-acre urban farm. Episode Sponsor: Dubois Agrinovation Many thanks to professional thespian Kirk Smith , who co-produced this episode with me....
Feb 21, 2019•16 min
This episode I speak with Karl Hammer, founder of Vermont Compost and all-around soil fertility expert. We focus on the use of wood chips as a soil amendment, and Karl also shares his thoughts about managing soil fertility on bio-intensive market gardens. Show Sponsors: BCS America and Dubois Agrinovation In our conversation, Karl refers to research done by Laval University and Cornell University on this subject. Go google for it! But here's something to get you started....
Feb 21, 2019•38 min
This ep: Ruminant co-host Tristan Banwell interviews Farmer and Author Steve Gabriel about his book Silvopasture: A Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops, and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystem. Bonus content (more conversation) should show up in your podcast feed, otherwise: get it at theruminant.ca Tristan and Steve discuss what to do with tree biomass you remove from your silvopasture system, a good approach to pruning, and current gaps in the knowledge of this topic. Show sponsors...
Feb 21, 2019•59 min
This episode my guest is Mark Renz, an extension weed specialist at the University of Wisconsin. He joins me to talk about weed management in the pasture.
Sep 20, 2018•40 min
This ep: I wanted to learn more about maintaining and increasing bug biodiversity on my farm so I contacted the Xerces Society , a non-profit that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. They connected me with Eric Mader, co-Director of their Pollinator Conservation and Agricultural Biodiversity program. Eric is my guest in this episode. I grabbed this episode's artwork from The Pacific Northwest Bumblebee Atlas...
Aug 06, 2018•51 min
Steve Solomon is back to talk about what's turning his crank in the garden these days: foliar feeding. Steve is the author of numerous gardening books including one of my faves, The Intelligent Gardener.
Apr 23, 2018•47 min
My guest today, Pascale Deffieux Pearce, is a vice-president with Brinsea, a producer of egg incubators for the farm and home. She joins me to talk about ins and outs and pros and cons of hatching your own eggs, or those of your hens'.
Apr 06, 2018•31 min
This episode: Part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Dan Brisebois, editor of the seed production blog Going to Seed and co-author of Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers. In this part, Dan talks about the basics of vegetable seed production and suggests how to begin incorporating it into a small scale farm business. In part two, Dan discusses marketing strategies once you're ready to sell your seed.
Mar 30, 2018•28 min
Have you read The Third Plate by chef Dan Barber? Great Book. This episode explores one of the legacies of that book: a brand new seed company, representing a collaboration between chefs and plant breeders, that aims to improve the flavour and performance of our plant varieties. My guest is Michael Mazourek, plant breeder at Cornell and a partner in Row 7 Seeds.
Mar 23, 2018•43 min
This ep: Jean-Martin Fortier returns for a quickie. We talk about fame, semi-fortune, cocaine, compost tea, the tool he's most obsessed with at the moment, and a few other tidbits. One of JM's recent projects is an online course. He's pretty amped about it. It's called The Market Gardener's Master Class . We discuss that too.
Mar 19, 2018•37 min
