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
Fruit and the Freeze of 2021
Better Than I Feared but Worse Than It Looks By Guy K. Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Photo at right: Peach flowers from a previous spring, a sight we won’t be seeing much of this year because of the deep freeze. A dipping polar vortex delivered a cruel and chilling Valentine’s gift to the Midwest and… Continue Reading
Providing Water to Livestock in Frigid Weather
By Linda Coffey, Margo Hale, and Dave Scott, NCAT Livestock Specialists Weather events bring all sorts of challenges to livestock producers, but perhaps none more than severe winter weather. The bitterly cold temperatures in February 2021 sparked a conversation among NCAT Livestock Specialists about how we provide water to stock during such times. Since spring… Continue Reading
Juneberry: the Delicious Native American Fruit with a Thousand Names
By Guy K. Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist At right: Juneberry fruits look quite like medium-sized blueberries, but the juneberry is actually much more closely related to apples and pears. Photo: Guy Ames, NCAT. Of the many names for this plant, “chuckleberry” is certainly my favorite, but I’ve only seen it in writing, never heard it… Continue Reading
Getting Started in Livestock: Lessons Learned
By Linda Coffey, NCAT Livestock Specialist Thinking back to 1986 and our first farm is a fun thing to do. From then until now, we’ve raised a lot of livestock and have done several types of enterprises—feeder to finish, dairy, eggs, breeding stock, birth to finish. NCAT Southeast Regional Director and Livestock Specialist Margo Hale… Continue Reading
Farm Equipment and Infrastructure
By Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director, Armed to Farm Program Director, and Agriculture Specialist Last week, I shared a few thoughts about getting started with livestock. In the Getting Started with Livestock Podcast, NCAT Livestock Specialist Linda Coffey and I discussed our farm goals, how our livestock enterprises help us meet those goals, and… Continue Reading
Getting Started with Livestock
By Margo Hale, NCAT Southeast Regional Director, Armed to Farm Program Director, and Agriculture Specialist My day begins with a hot cup of coffee and a quick check of our farm. What a thrill to find a new baby calf from our Belted Galloways, to watch the antics of our pig, to have my girls… 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