Grain on the Brain
24 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago -Tune in as we are joined by industry experts and farmers to discuss important issues in organic grain farming. Check out our website at www.manitobaorganicalliance.com and www.pivotandgrow.com and see what organic grain production can do for you. We bring the resources, tools and expertise you need to get growing! Grain on the Brain podcast is created by the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative; working to create resilience and stability in the prairie organic grain sector.
This podcast is partially funded by the Prairie Organic Development Fund.
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Episodes
Soil Health Tools
April 20, 2023 19:36 - 44 minutes - 40.3 MBToday Scott talks with John Cote who runs John Boy Farms near St. Agathe Manitoba. John shares about his experience growing vegetables for the local market and how and why he chose to focus on garlic. They also cover a few other topics such as soil health, cover crops and inputs.
Organic Connections Panel
March 27, 2023 17:15 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBIn this episode, Scott interviews Cody Straza and Ian Cushon in a live panel format, recorded at the Organic Connections show in Saskatoon. Both are experienced organic farmers and they cover a wide variety of topics including species diversity, green manures, soil fertility, livestock and more.
Compost
January 24, 2023 16:39 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBResources links Rodale Institute has some excellent information around composting as well https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-farming-practices/composting/
Storing Water and Carbon
May 26, 2022 13:49 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBResources links One fantastic way to build soil health and improve the water infiltration capacity of your soil is to integrate livestock onto your land. For grain farmers who don’t own livestock, MOA and MFGA have built a website to help facilitate partnerships between grain and livestock farmers. It’s a great way to terminate and reincorporate your green manure and build your soil biology. FInd out more here: https://manitobagrazingexchange.com/ The panel mentioned Mark Shepard’s keylin...
Biologicals
April 09, 2022 17:25 - 38 minutes - 35 MBResources links You can contact Neal Wagar, Manitoba Technical Sales Rep via email [email protected] or phone (204-218-2221) for any questions about Ecotea. Recent study results have been uploaded to our website as well in the Resources section: https://manitobaorganicalliance.com/podcasts/season-3-episode-6-biologicals/ http://www.eco-tea.ca/ https://youtu.be/sIsfmR7NK1Y https://youtu.be/KZzACqUuSYk www.overtonenvironmental.ca www.ecotea.ca Sponsor Our podcast is supported by gene...
Thoughtful Tillage
January 25, 2022 14:40 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBResources links Curtis mentioned Manitoba Agriculture’s Soil Management Guide as a great resource in learning more about soils in general and how to manage them: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/environment/soil-management/soil-management-guide/ Sponsor Our podcast is supported by generous donations, grants and sponsorships. This episode was funded in part by the Canadian government through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the Prairie Organic Development Fund and the Conservation ...
Transition to Organics
December 01, 2021 21:05 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBResources links Check out the Rodale Institute resources, webinars and courses https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-basics/ Education Course https://rodaleinstitute.org/education/ https://courses.rodaleinstitute.org/p/rodale-institute-transition-to-organic Contact Nic for more information about accessing consultant services and takin the Education courses: [email protected] +1(218)789-1044 (based in Minnesota) Get some financial support during your transiti...
Intercropping
July 09, 2021 18:19 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBResources links The WADO annual report with its 2020 results can be found here: https://mbdiversificationcentres.ca/westman-agricultural-diversification-organization/ You can also use their search tool to find the results from all the trials they’ve conducted over the past decade. Southeast research farm in Redvers SK also does lots of intercropping research: https://southeastresearchfarm.org/ Sponsor Our podcast is supported by generous donations and sponsorships. This episode was fu...
Plant Breeding
May 28, 2021 12:40 - 1 hour - 55.2 MBThe Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security supports a national Participatory Plant Breeding Program - PPB - with the University of Manitoba that puts farmers in the driver's seat to select varieties that are adaptive to their organic growing conditions, and their climates. To find out more about this innovative work, please visit www.seedsecurity.ca You can also learn more about the PPB program on the University of Manitoba’s Natural Systems Agriculture page: https://www.umanito...
Carbon Sequestration
April 23, 2021 21:19 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBResources links Check out Dr. Kris Nichols’ website to learn more about her work and soil health resources: https://kris-systems.com/ She has a method in her Resources section for COLLECTING SOIL AGGREGATES AND MEASURING AGGREGATE STABILITY https://www.cog.ca/every-day-should-be-world-soil-day/ For more about the Canadian Organic Growers “Canadian Access Project”: https://www.cog.ca/the-canadian-access-project/ The Canadian Organic Growers are looking for participants in the Canadian ...
Farmers for Climate Solutions
March 26, 2021 13:19 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBResources links You can get involved as a Farmer For Climate Solutions by going to their website and clicking on the Take Action button https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/ Find more information about the newly released policy report here: https://farmersforclimatesolutions.ca/budget-2021-recommendation Rural Routes to Climate Solutions https://rr2cs.ca/ Manitoba Organic Alliance https://manitobaorganicalliance.com/ Sponsor Funding is provided in part by the Canada and Manitoba g...
Growing Perennial Wheat in Manitoba
March 10, 2021 19:54 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBGuest bio for Dr. Doug Cattani Doug received his BSA and MSc. from the University of Manitoba (Plant Breeding) and his PhD. from Wageningen University, The Netherlands in Plant Production Ecology. He has worked with herbaceous perennial for over three decades with emphasis on breeding and seed production. His current position is as Perennial Crop Breeder in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba with the breeding of intermediate wheatgrass and perennial sunflower for ...
Livestock Integration
February 16, 2021 19:22 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBResources Our resource list this episode is directly from our guest Ward Middleton and includes the resources he has found helpful on his own farm. For farmers who may be interested in integrating livestock that they do not own, like winter feeding someone else's cows and are concerned about cost effective ways to make that possible, here are some articles I used: Assessing Chaff Feed Value: https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/production/beef/increasing-cow-calf-profitabilit...
Soil Testing
December 23, 2020 21:26 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBResources Find out more about the CARA soil health lab https://www.carasoilhealthlab.ca/ Want to get out on your field and do some measurements? The CARA soil health lab has some videos demonstrating water infiltration and using a soil penetrometer here: https://www.carasoilhealthlab.ca/gallery-1 The NRCS also has great soil health and assessment resources. Methods to do a water infiltration test: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052494.pdf And lots more ...
Building Soil Carbon
November 27, 2020 15:05 - 43 minutes - 27.2 MBResources links Read about soil health research on organic farms conducted by the Organic Farming Research Foundation: https://ofrf.org/research/reports/ Dig deeper into Soil Health on the National Resources Conservation Service’s website: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/soils/health/?cid=stelprdb1245890 https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/soils/health/ If you're near Quebec City and are interested in participating in Professor Kallenbach'...
All About Seeds
September 16, 2020 15:10 - 57 minutes - 51.5 MBGuest bios Iris Iris Vaisman is the Prairie Regional Coordinator for the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security and the Grains Program Manager at Organic Alberta. In these roles, she has the joy and privilege of partnering with farmers, researchers, industry, government and various stakeholders to work on diverse projects. The projects aim to contribute to the resilience of seed systems and organic grain production systems. Before taking on these roles, Iris worked at the Univer...
Farming with pollinators
June 21, 2020 13:41 - 46 minutes - 39.6 MBSponsor Funding is provided in part by the Canada and Manitoba governments through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Additional sponsorship has been provided by Secan. SeCan is the largest supplier of certified seed to Canadian farmers with more than 600 independent seed business members from coast to coast engaged in seed production, processing and marketing. We are a private, not-for-profit, member corporation with the primary goal of accessing and promoting leading genetics. http...
Mechanical Weed Control
May 07, 2020 12:30 - 50 minutes - 42.8 MBWe recorded today’s episode in March at the 2020 Prairie Organics Conference in Brandon Manitoba. Scott gets into the weeds with Sam Hitchcock Tilton as they discuss ways to control weeds at all stages of their life cycle throughout the growing season. Sponsor Thanks to Regen Ag Solutions for helping to sponsor this episode. If you’re thinking about trying out some of the machines Sam and Scott were talking about, check out their website at https://regenagsolutions.ca/ or give them a cal...
Cover Crops
April 07, 2020 14:00 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBOur host, Scott Beaton, chats with Kevin Elmy from Cover Crops Canada about …..wait for it….cover crops. They talk about why we should all be growing them in the first place and then get into some of the nitty gritty details about some timing issues, how to plan a cover crop mix and how cover crops actually work to improve your soil aggregates and water infiltration. Thanks to Imperial Seed for helping to sponsor this episode. If you’re thinking about growing a cover crop this year, check...
Organic Grain Transition: If I Knew Then What I Know Now
September 11, 2019 15:50 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBJoin our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Transitioning organic grain farmer, Alex Boersch from Elie, MB, interviews Alan McKenzie, an experienced organic grain farmer from Nesbitt, MB. . With host Scott Beaton, they discusses strategies, perceptions, challenges, and opportunities of transitioning into organic grain. Hear their perspective on rotations, managing weeds, markets, paperwork and more. Bio: Alex Boersch has a bachelor and Masters in Agri-Business and science from INP Purpa...
Managing Weeds in Organic Crops
August 14, 2019 15:50 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBJoin our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Brenda Frick, organic expert on weeds in organic cropping , to talk about practical and helpful tips for managing weeds in organic cropping. With host Scott Beaton, she discusses how to prevent and manage those tough weeds like Canada Thistle and Bind Weed. Learn understanding weed cycles and what practices farmers use to reduce them. Bio: Brenda Frick is a partner in Resilient Solutions Consulting. Brenda has a wealth of experience in organi...
How to Take Soil and Plant Tissue Samples
June 25, 2019 18:46 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBJoin our host Scott Beaton in conversation with organic grain expert Joanne Thiessen Martens to talk about taking soil samples and plant tissue samples. Learn when to take sample, how to take the sample, where to send your samples and how to interpret the results. Sampling and testing can help you understand what's happening on your farm and make management decisions or interventions if required. In organic systems, mainstream soil tests might not capture everything that you need to know to...
Marketing Organic Grain 101
May 26, 2019 00:17 - 27 minutes - 25 MBJoin our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Organic grain farmer Ian Cushon and organic buyer Scott Shiels to learn about the opportunities and challenges that come along with marketing organic grain. Organic farmers can take advantage by paying attention to what's happening in the market place and planning crops accordingly . The organic industry is a smaller community and everyone wants to help each other so learn the network and learn to ask questions. Learn what might be a good crop ...
Crop Rotation Strategies
May 25, 2019 16:35 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBJoin our host Scott Beaton in conversation with Katherine Stanley to talk about strategies for designing organic crop rotations that build soil fertility, manage weeds and prevent disease and pests. Learn about planning green manures that will set you up for a successful cash crop. Scott and Katherine discuss applying manure, integrating livestock grazing and options including perennials in your rotation. Bio: Katherine Stanley is a Research Associate at the University of Manitoba's Natural...