Episodes

Some say consumers don’t know enough about farming to have informed opinions on farming methods. Andrew deCoriolis, Executive Director of Farm Forward says that’s not true–Consumers do know how they want animals treated. Farm Forward is generally opposed to “factory farms” and is especially opposed to misleading campaigns to slip language into the farm bill that would reverse state voter decisions establishing guidelines for pork production practices (gestation crates) if they want to market in ...

Kara Tupy and her family live near Chico, California on their Hidden Springs Family Ranch. In the aftermath of the worst wild fire in California’s history that destroyed the near by town of Paradise, Kara was insprired to create Farm Teach, a nonprofit that offers paid regenerative farming fellowships to youth. Her background as an educator and her family’s transition from suburban gardening to farming led to the creation of Farm Teach, which uses principles of regenerative agriculture to help y...

Some messages are worth hearing again such as this re-released classic from July 2023 with Elizabeth Hilborn. Over 60 years ago Rachel Carson warned of “Silent Spring (s)” to come from the harms of indiscriminate use of pesticides. Since then the threatening big picture has broadened to position the Earth in the current period of the Sixth Extinction. Extinctions are gradual but silence can be sudden as it seemed to honey bee veterinarian Elizabeth Hilborn who had to solve a mystery of what kil...

The only thing we should ask is: what is the right thing to do? That is what the Earth requires of us according to author/philosopher Wendell Berry. “We have the world to live in and the use of it to live from on the condition that we take care of it. And to take good care of it we have to know it and we have to know how to take care of it.” We have to love it. Farm To Table Talk brings back the wisdom of Wendell Berry at his passing. The interview was a production of the Schumann Media Center,...

What began with encouraging churches to start gardens on church premises, has since grown to include encouraging congregations to make institutional purchases from Black farmers, host farmers markets, preferably on Sundays after church, and arrange tours of Black farms.

Bruce Knight describes himself as a “lifelong conservationist” following his father’s advice to “leave the land better than you found it,” He shares his journey from farming in South Dakota to leading the Natural Resources Conservation Service during the Bush administration to his role with Strategic Conservation Solutions. Rodger and Bruce explore various conservation programs including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and how these progra...

Seeing the whole world every day can give food companies, farmers and consumers knowledge of crop issues, food supply now and in the future. Rodger interviews Nick Ohrtman from Earth Daily, a remote sensing analytics company, on the Farm to Table Talk podcast. Nick explains that Earth Daily has a constellation of 10 satellites to providing daily, 5-meter resolution imagery of the Earth’s landmass, primarily for agricultural monitoring. The data can track crop conditions globally, assist in forec...

Some conversations deserve a second hearing . In this episode we’re bringing back one of those conversations, Allan Savory. The cause of climate change is not animals or fossil fuel. It is how we manage all resources and we can start with grasslands of the world. Allan Savory, the founder of the Savory Institute, is a renowned ecologist and pioneer in holistic land management. His work fhas focused on regenerating degraded landscapes through innovative practices that integrate livestock grazing...

Farm to table can be a journey that matters. This podcast appreciates the listeners who have downloaded over a million episodes and for the often inspiring guests who have generously shared the story of their journeys, from farm to table. Over the years of producing this podcast, I have been asked about my own journey that has brought us together. Well Greg Peterson, the host of the Urban Farmer podcast a few years ago asked me to talk with him about my journey that covered visiting 49 states an...

With current global, political and societal crises, the urgent need to fight climate change is being pushed to the edges. It’s not happening with Farm To Table Talk as we re-visit a podcast classic and the claim that Agriculture will reverse the dangerous levels of greenhouse gases in the environment, if Ag follows a report prepared by leading scientists, reviewed by CAST (Center for Ag Science and Technology) and published by the US Farmers and Ranchers In Action. Dr.Marty Matlock, University o...

Sourcing food locally is an important frontier for the food system, from Farmers Markets, to Farm to Fork restaurants, schools, hospitals and more. Santana Diaz is the Execuctive Chef and Director of Culinary Operations at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, where it is a priority to source as much food as possible from area farmers and what that means tor patients, medical staff and the local community.

California voters approved Proposition 12 by a decisive 63% margin, establishing minimum space requirements for farm animals and restricting the sale of pork, eggs, and veal produced from animals confined in spaces smaller than those standards. For pork producers, the law effectively prohibits the sale of meat from pigs born to sows housed in gestation crates that fail to meet California’s requirements. State regulators and many pork processors have maintained that California’s pork demand can be...

Food is a national security issue and passing an updated farm bill is of critical importance to both farmers and consumers, especially the food insecure. Rodger Wasson visits with Congressman Jim Costa, a leading member of the House of Representatives Agriculture committee, who voted for advancing the long overdue ‘work in progress” to the US Senate. Rodger Wasson and Congressman Costa discuss agriculture policy and Congressman Costa explains the importance of the Farm Bill as America’s food saf...

Coffee is good for us! Especially when it connects regenerative growing practices that stretch from indigenous tribes to our barista or home brewed for the cup to start every day. Andrew Salisbury found proof of the health benefits of coffee from the Vanderbilt University Institute of Coffee Studies and found the source of beans with indigenous tribes in the Amazon.

Regenerative means understanding the cycles of nature and operating within those cycles of nature, producing a bounty that is true profit created from sunlight, microbial life in the soil and rain water, generating more than was there. Will Harris practices what he preaches on his family’s White Oak Pastures in Georgia. While specialists may be necessary in many ventures, Will says that it’s better to be a generalist when striving to be a good regenerative farmer With his daughters, their spouse...

Disruptions in shipping lanes such as in the Strait of Hormuz creates havoc in food supply and demand. This episode of Farm to Table Talk features Peter Friedmann from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition discussing the complex global supply chain challenges in moving agricultural products from farms to tables around the world. Peter explains how U.S.agriculture relies heavily on international shipping, with products often traveling extensive routes including transloading at intermediate por...

You can’t dream big enough was a challenge often heard from the widely acknowledged voice of Agriculture, Orion Samuelson. Just after graduating from college the host of Farm To Table Talk, Rodger Wasson had the good fortune to host a Radio Farm Show in Normal, Illinois and subsequently become acquainted with the legendary host of the Chicago based clear channel WGN Radio Farm Show. Orion Samuelson made it is life’s work to support farmers and remind consumers that since they eat they’re part of...

Natalie Bogwalker, c0-author of The New Natural Food Garden, discuses her journey from living in a log cabin to selling her business Wild Abundance and focusing on gardening education. She shared insights about her new book, which features beautiful photography and practical gardening advice, and discussed her approach to cooking with homegrown ingredients. The conversation explored how gardening can provide both financial savings and mental health benefits, with Natalie emphasizing that growing...

Getting enough iron from the food we eat is something most of us take for granted, but about 2 billion people worldwide have an iron deficiency, the Number 1 nutritional deficiency globally. An international research team led by scientists in Brazil have come up with a way to boost iron content in rice, which is one of the most consumed foods. Farm Table Talk talks with Dr. Felipe Ricachenevsky about research at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, where he is working to biofor...

In May of 2014 The Noble South opened its doors and began crafting a restaurant based on a fresh farm-to-table approach. With a clear vision of incorporating the highest quality seasonal ingredients with style, The Noble South leans into relationships with local farms that use organic practices, culinary collegaues and consumers resulting in the rich tradition of Southern fare with a lighter and fresher appeal. Proximity and supporting local and surrounding communities are at the forefront of th...

A new farm bill has passed out of the House Agriculture Committee to be considered by Congress. If successful it will be the first Farm Bill passed since 2018. Commodity programs, crop insurance and foreign market development are increased but nutrition programs are not. SNAP cuts from recent legislation were not recovered, yet. Nor have corn growers gotten the expansion in ethanol programs that they sought. California’s proposition 12, requiring specified space for animals if the meat is to be ...

In this episode of Farm to Table Talk, Rodger interviewed Jeremy and Stacey Hill about their homesteading practices and food preservation techniques. The Hills, who operate Gooseberry Bridge Farm in Missouri, shared their journey from suburban gardening to homesteading a 12-acre farm with dairy cows, goats, pigs, and an extensive vegetable garden. They discussed their use of freeze-drying as a modern preservation method, explaining how it maintains food quality and allows for shelf-stable storag...

The United States Supreme Court by a vote of 6 to 3 has struck down President Trump’s tariffs, to the relief of most farmers who have experienced severe financial losses and rising costs of farm inputs. The 2025 tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IIEPA) covered nearly all trading partners, but China faced rates exceeding 100 percent. In response, Beijing escalated retaliatory duties on key agricultural imports. Almonds were hit with a 45 percent tariff. As a ...

The future of agriculture will utilize the development and application of robotic technology. Jaisimha Rao explains a robotic machine that uses AI and cameras to distinguish between crops and weeds, then sprays herbicides specifically on weeds. There is potential of humanoid robots in agricultureJ. Their AI system identifies weeds using visual recognition, contrasting it with text-based AI models like ChatGPT. The system involves collecting and annotating weed images by agronomists in India, whi...