Episodes

What if some of the least productive acres on a farm could become an opportunity to improve farm efficiency and support biodiversity? In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, host Derek Leahy speaks with Joe Lovell, a crop producer near Clive, Alberta, about his experience participating in a research project led by the Prairie Precision Sustainability Network (PPSN). Together, they explore how harvest data, satellite imagery and farm profitability information can help ...

What would it take for marginal land restoration to make sense for the farm family, not just the field? In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, Derek Leahy speaks with Dr. Jeremy Pittman, an associate professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo, about the human side of adopting sustainable agriculture practices. It is the second episode of Restoring the Margins, a series produced in partnership with the Prairie Precision Sustainability Network (PP...

What does it mean to care for the land–not simply as a resource, but as a living relative? In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, Tawnya Plain Eagle speaks with Dr. Linda ManyGuns, a member of Siksika Nation, retired professor and advisor to the Siksikaitsitapi Agriculture Project (SAP). Together, they explore Blackfoot food systems, agriculture and food sovereignty–from traditional harvesting practices and historic trade routes to the deep knowledge Blackfoot people...

In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, we welcome Christen Falcon, from the Amskapi Piikani (Blackfeet Nation) in Montana. Christen has worked across food sovereignty, community wellness, education and Indigenous health, bringing together Blackfoot ways of knowing with modern approaches to nutrition, agriculture and holistic wellbeing. Drawing from both personal experience and professional work, she shares how reconnecting with land, food and culture can help individu...

In this bonus episode of the SAP series, we sit down with two of our coordinators from our Siksikaitsitapi Agriculture Project (SAP): Riel Houle and Nathan Provost. Both are proud members of the Piikani First Nation and bring Blackfoot cultural knowledge and their own personal connections to the land and agriculture to their work. This conversation explores what regenerative agriculture can look like in Blackfoot communities and how traditional knowledge and community leadership are shaping the...

In this episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, we’re reconnecting with an old friend of the podcast, Api’soomaahka (translation: Running Coyote). His English name is William Singer III. Api’soomaahka is an artist, land-based educator and founder of Naapi’s Garden and Katoyiss Seed Bank. He returns to the podcast to share updates on his powerful work around restoring native plants, reconnecting people with land-based wellness and revitalizing Blackfoot ecological knowledge in ...

Welcome to Restoring the Margins, our brand new podcast series, in partnership with the Prairie Precision Sustainability Network (PPSN). This series explores how agriculture producers in the Prairies can take their marginal lands and turn them into something both more profitable and more beneficial for the environment. In this opening episode, we’re joined by Dr. Christy Morrissey, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and a lead researcher with the PPSN. Dr. Morrissey walks us through ...

In this episode of the Siksikaitsitapi Agriculture Project (SAP) podcast series, Lance Tailfeathers sits down with Wolf Caller (Elliot Fox), a leader in land management and now a member of Kainai First Nation’s Council. They discuss the past, present and future of agriculture in Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, exploring how Blackfoot ways of knowing can help to protect water systems against droughts, enhance food security and protect native species. Wolf Caller (Elliot) shares his jour...

Wrapping up our Stories of Regeneration tour, we land in Ottawa at Just Food Community Farm, a 150-acre farmstead located in Ottawa’s Greenbelt that is championing small-scale, viable agriculture businesses and initiatives like Chi Garden and Urban Fresh Produce. Dedicated to cultivating a thriving local food economy and sustainable farming sector, Just Food integrates agroecology-based conservation with land stewardship. The farm is a testament to how community-led initiatives can redefine our...

On the second-last stop in our Stories of Regeneration tour, we returned to Alberta, making a stop at Peony Farms in Lacombe. Facing his daughter’s health issues, rancher Craig Cameron and his family turned to regenerative farming to grow the healthiest food possible for her. Craig, alongside his father-in-law Peter DenOudsten, shifted their traditional beef farm to a regenerative model. They now grow over 10 types of grass and clover, use less fertilizer, and produce some of the healthiest, mo...

In these final three episodes of the series, we’ll be doing some light exploration into the relationship between society and regenerative agriculture and how one can help advance the other. But the real meat and potatoes of the last three episodes, just like in all the other episodes in this series, will be about getting to know and understand the boots on the ground folks who are leading the way on this change that we are seeing in the agriculture sector. Meet Rebecca Harbut and Mike Bomford f...

For this very special French-language episode of the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast, recorded in the late summer of 2023 during the Stories of Regeneration tour, Sara Maranda-Gauvin of Regeneration Canada talked with brothers Vincent and Simon-Pierre Bolduc of La Station: an organic farm and cheese factory in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. The Bolduc brothers are the 4th generation of farmers in their family enterprise. While La Station has been practicing organic farming since the...

If you are a lifelong learner, being an agricultural producer is almost the perfect profession for you. Other economic sectors evolve and adapt over the years, but since nature doesn’t work off of blueprints, learning and adapting in agriculture can happen over days, even hours. You never know what Mother Nature is going to dish out, whether it is going to be the good, the bad or the ugly, so being able to observe, learn and adapt can be just as handy as mechanical skills. And now we have educ...

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 Can...

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....

Fifth generation farmer, Rébeka Frazer-Chiasson believes strongly in the practices of regenerative agriculture. Located in Rogersville, New Brunswick, her farm Ferme Terre Partagee currently operates as a coop based on common values and objectives including peasant agroecology and food sovereignty. Welcome to Stories of Regeneration, a podcast series brought to you by Rural Routes to Climate Solutions and Regeneration Canada. Join me, your host Derek Leahy, as we delve into the importance of su...

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...

During the growing season of 2023, Rural Routes to Climate Solutions teamed up with Regeneration Canada to connect with agricultural producers across Canada who are tackling the pressing social and environmental crises through the adoption of regenerative agriculture. One such farm is Axten Farms, situated in Minton, Saskatchewan. With a steadfast commitment to growing healthy grains, Axten Farms takes a regenerative approach focused on enhancing their land’s soil biodiversity, creating a thriv...

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. Joshua is the CEO of Advanced A...

In the summer of 2023, a diverse group of storytellers, organizers, and strategists visited 10 farms and ranches in Canada. These farms and ranches were carefully chosen to represent different aspects of Canadian agriculture, including fruit, grains, beef, veggies, and even a vineyard. The purpose of this project, which included videos, articles, and a podcast series, was not solely focused on what these farms produced, but rather how they produced it. These farmers and ranchers were passionate ...

During the growing season of 2023, the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast travelled to ten farms and ranches across Canada to find out how regenerative agriculture principles were being applied by agricultural producers involved in different types of agriculture production: grains, livestock, viticulture, vegetables and fruit. What we discovered is that despite their differences in production, geography and climate, these producers actually had quite a bit in common. The Stories of Regen...

Have you ever found yourself scratching your head trying to make sense of all those terms like polycultures, cocktail crops, intercropping, cover crops, companion cropping, and relay crops? It’s understandable! They all seem to be part of the vast landscape of good land stewardship practices, like sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, agroecology, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture. Oh, and let’s not forget our personal favorite—agricultural climate solutions. But here’s the thin...

Welcome to the conclusion of the Getting Through Drought series, where we look at the best management practices cow-calf producers in Alberta can use to build up their resiliency against drought. 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 coll...

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. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Derek MacKenzie from the University of Alberta, who sheds light on the i...