Episode 1: Why the Farm Bill Matters

The Farm Report: Live!In collaboration with HRN and the National Young Farmers Coalition, Following a screening of the documentary "Common Ground" Leigh Ollman moderates a spirited conversation about the future of farming with guests Michelle A.T Hughes, Chirs Nickell and Leah Penniman. Chris Nickell (Finca Seremos)- Chris Nickell (they/them) is a community organizer and land steward. With previous work experience in academia, labor organizing, and state government, Chris turned to agriculture in 2022. They farmed vegetables and offered public programming at Stone Barns Center in 2022 and served as crew leader at Cropsey Community Farm in 2023. This year they founded Finca Seremos in Beacon, NY with their spouse, Brenda González. Seremos is a food justice project to grow fresh, organic, nutrient-dense produce for Chris and Brenda's community in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx as well as their new community in the mid-Hudson Valley.Leah Penniman (Soul Fire Farm)- Leah Penniman (all pronouns)  is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, soil nerd, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-ED and Farm Director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs – including farmer training for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system.Michelle A.T. Hughes (Young Farmers) - Michelle (she/her) is a former hog farmer from New Haven, Connecticut, with a background in agriculture policy. Before serving as Co-Executive Director, Michelle has served in a number of roles at the Coalition beginning as a Farm Bill Organizer in the summer of 2017. From there, Michelle served on the federal policy team as Federal Policy Associate after the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. Working on federal farm policy reinforced Michelle’s desire for equitable change for young farmers and inspired her to design a framework for the organization’s racial equity transformation.SUPPORT A BRIGHTERFUTURE FOR U.S.AGRICULTURE.Help our coalition tackle the obstacles preventing talented, passionate young farmers and ranchers from building successful careers in agriculture.   

Access to land is the number one challenge facing the next generation of farmers in the US. Centuries of discrimination and land theft have put this resource out of reach of farmers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Everyday in the US we lose 2,000 acres of viable farmland to development. With millions of acres on the verge of changing hands, the Farm Bill is our best chance to ensure this land transitions equitably to the next generation of farmers. We’ll dig into the land access challenges farmers face, how the One Million Acres for the Future campaign provides solutions, and the role the next farm bill can play. Visit https://www.youngfarmers.org/land/ to find out more. Learn more about the Young Farmers One Million Acres campaign, check out the National Young Farmer Survey, and tell Congress to support land access for young and BIPOC farmers here.Our guests specifically talk about the the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program (LCM) and the Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities (LASO) programs.Connect with the farmers featured in this episode. Visit Heru Urban Farming and EarthDance Farm School. Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Farm Report by becoming a member!The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Despite an increasing number of farmers growing food in cities urban agriculture wasn’t acknowledged in the farm bill until 2018. Lisa Held, journalist with Civil Eats and former Farm Report host provides the scoop on how the Farm Bill will impact the future of urban ag.Melissa Metrick and Wythe Marschall, co-hosts of HRN’s Fields podcast, give us some perspective on urban land-access challenges and what’s happening on the ground in cities across the country. And, our very own co-host Alita Kelly shares some of the urban agriculture projects she’s been working on in her community.Check out Fields here.For more information on the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovation, visit the USDA website.Learn more about the NYU Urban Farm Lab and the Map N.Y.C. projects that Wythe and Melissa mentioned.Visit Civil Eats to catch the latest food system stories. The Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues. The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

The nutrition title was first included in the 1973 farm bill. It’s projected to make up 84% of total Farm Bill spending, with most of the funds going to SNAP. That’s because the program helps more than 40 million low-income individuals provide food for their families each month. Some of those people are farmers. In this episode, we talk to Mark Nicholson, Senior Director of Policy at the Fair Food Network to dig into how the farm bill links farms and food access.  And we’ll talk to farmers about how they are uniquely positioned to directly provide nutritious food for the families in their communities.Learn more about the SNAP program here, the Healthy Food Finance Initiative here, and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) hereCheck out Fair Food Network hereLearn more about the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program hereThe Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues. The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Farmers are now dealing with the impacts of the climate crisis on a daily basis. Experts predict weather events including droughts and flooding will only get worse. Young and beginning farmers, especially BIPOC farmers, are feeling those impacts the most. Are there opportunities to advance water and climate action and justice through the 2024 Farm Bill? We interview Abi Fain, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at the Intertribal Ag Council. And we’ll talk to young farmers building solutions to address water access and climate issues. Check out the Intertribal Agriculture Council hereLearn more about the USDA’s EQIP program here and the crop insurance agent training program Abi mentions hereMore information about the Small Farms Conservation Act and the Farmer to Farmer Education Act can be found here and hereConnect with the farmers featured in this episode. Visit Cloverleigh Farm, Hollenbeck's Cider Mill, San Juan Ranch, and BluRok FarmThe Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues.The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Why should our next generation of farmers – and just about everyone who eats – care about the farm bill? Celize Christy, an Organizer at HEAL Food Alliance explains the basic details on what’s in the legislation, how it gets written, and how it impacts you. Then, Young Farmers’ Policy Campaigns Co-Director Vanessa Garcia Polanco lays out the path forward in terms of the most important issues this time around. And we talk to farmers KD Randall and Matt Hollenbeck about what they need from their policymakers in D.C. Check out HEAL Food Alliance’s farm bill priorities here.Learn more about Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill here.Follow KD Randle @farmerinthekellsLearn more about the USDA’s EQIP program here, and the NRCS program here.The Farm Report is hosted by Leigh Ollman and Alita Kelly, produced by Leigh Ollman, Evan Flom and H Conley, and edited by Hannah Beal and H Conley. Audio engineering is by Armen Spendjian and H Conley. Music is by Breakmaster Cylinder and JangwaLearn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition here and consider becoming a member. Click here to take action on the farm bill and other important policy issues. The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast. 

Join us for a special series of The Farm Report in collaboration with The National Young Farmers Coalition that's all about The Farm Bill. Tune in to hear from farmers, policymakers, organizers, and food advocates about all the ways the farm bill directly impacts our lives - whether we realize it or not. We’ll break down farm policy and talk to young farmers about what hangs in the balance for them as another Farm Bill gets made. Join our coalition to shift power and change policy for the next generation of growers and land stewards. The future of good food depends on it. The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Humans have used fermentation to preserve crops and add flavor and health benefits to their diets for thousands of years. Since 2015, Sarah Conezio and Isaiah Billington have been putting their own stamp on that age-old tradition with Keepwell Vinegar. Together, they partner directly with small, organic farms to turn apples, ginger, and persimmons into specialty vinegars, farro into miso, and soybeans into soy sauce, bottling the Mid-Atlantic’s seasonal bounty. Home cooks and the best chefs in Baltimore, Washington DC, and Philadelphia—and increasingly far beyond—now use their products. In this episode, host Lisa Held talks to the Keepwell founders about making vinegar, working with farmers, and why they do what they do.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Farm Report by becoming a member!The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

Whether they’ve grazed on grass their entire lives, been raised in an organic system, or lived on a conventional dairy farm, the vast majority of dairy cows get sold into the commodity beef system when they’re retired and get integrated into the same cheap meat supply. With Butter Meat Co, Jill Gould is betting on a different model. By selling retired organic dairy cows directly in her local community in Western New York and online, she’s working to get struggling organic dairies higher prices for their animals while getting more flavorful and environmentally friendly beef to consumers. In this episode, host Lisa Held talks to Gould about eating beef from dairy cows, the economic proposition for farmers, and what the model might mean for the planet.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Farm Report by becoming a member!The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.

America’s farmers are aging rapidly, and those looking to sell their land are finding no shortage of buyers. Billionaires, global corporations, investment firms, and developers are all buying up farmland for profit at a quick clip, driving up prices and making it nearly impossible for young and beginning farmers without accumulated wealth to afford their own acreage to plant and harvest. “Farmers Need Equitable Access to Land Now” is the message behind the National Young Farmers Coalition’s One Million Acres for the Future Campaign. In this episode, NYFC Land Campaign Director Holly Rippon-Butler talks to host Lisa Held about the factors driving land access challenges, historic and ongoing injustices that make accessing land even more difficult for BIPOC farmers, and the long-term policy solutions NYFC is pushing for.Photo Courtesy of National Young Farmers Coalition.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support The Farm Report by becoming a member!The Farm Report is Powered by Simplecast.