NCAT Southeast staff members. Back row, left to right: Linda Coffey, Livestock Specialist; Luke Freeman, Horticulture Specialist; Margo Hale, Southeast Regional Office Director. Front row, left to right: Nina Prater, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist/Outreach Coordinator; Robyn Metzger, Program Assistant; Guy Ames, Horticulture Specialist. The NCAT Southeast Regional Office NCAT opened an office in Fayetteville, Arkansas,… Continue Reading
USDA Programs Can Help Farmers Succeed
By Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director, Armed to Farm Program Director, and Agriculture Specialist I have worked on NCAT’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program as an Agriculture Specialist and educator for more than 15 years. Over the years, I have taught thousands of farmers through workshops and presentations. I am often surprised by the number… Continue Reading
Healthy Animals, Happy Farm
Strategies for Sheep and Goat Care By Linda Coffey, NCAT Livestock Specialist If you have raised sheep or goats, you likely have experienced the joy of “lamb races,” in which a group of lambs will suddenly get the urge to run and play, just for the fun of it. This week, I watched for at… Continue Reading
Farm Update: Late Summer in the Ozarks
Army Worms, Bees, No-Till Drilling, Soil pH By Nina Prater, NCAT Agriculture Specialist As we round the corner from summer into fall, I always like to look back and assess how we did on our farm during the busy summer months. We did not suffer a bad drought this summer, though it was touch and… Continue Reading
Apples and Pears: How to Tell When They’re Ripe
By Guy K. Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist It’s the time of year when apple and pear growers are watching their trees like hawks. . .because the crows are watching the trees, too—like, well, crows. Ripening fruit becomes attractive to crows and many other critters. The fruit sugars are just too much to resist. And beating… Continue Reading
Incubator Farm Project in its Second Season
By Luke Freeman, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Photo at right: Sunflowers bloom in the farm plot of Jenni Vaughn, who joined the Incubator Farm Project in 2019. New Incubator Farmers We are excited to announce that we have two new incubator farmers participating in the Woolsey Incubator Farm program in Fayetteville, AR! Their names are Lucy… Continue Reading
Selling Meat During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director and NCAT Livestock Specialist When the COVID-19 pandemic started, I, like many of you, was focused on working from home while also homeschooling my daughters. I was busy postponing and rescheduling several NCAT training events and figuring out how to best serve our ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture clients. As… Continue Reading
Pear Trees Exemplify Resilience
By Guy Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Photo: New leaves provide a startling and beautiful contrast to the diseased leaf on the left. “Resilience” is the latest buzz-word in the lexicon of sustainable agriculture. . .and for good reason. Resilience is the ability to recover or bounce back after a challenge or setback. In agriculture, it… Continue Reading
What the Brown Rot Hath Wrought
By Guy Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist I don’t grow peaches. That unhappy confession is despite the fact that I grow peach trees. And rot. I grow a lot of brown rot. In the humid eastern half of the United States, if you don’t somehow protect your peaches from both brown rot and the plum curculio, chances are your… Continue Reading
Dairy Goats for the Farm
By Linda Coffey, NCAT Livestock Specialist Photo at right: Caramel and Rosie Petunia with Caramel’s new owner. Photo: Courtesy Paula Hartgrave. This week, I will be sending a young dairy goat named Caramel to a lovely family. The seven-year-old girl who will be in charge of the goat is so excited; she and her parents… Continue Reading