Shows
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesAustin Rose Regenerates a Beautiful Landscape"New Mexico in general is very agricultural, especially where we are here in Northern New Mexico. And so mostly unless you're in the city, most communities are acequia-based irrigation. It's a beautiful thing that since living here, I've just become so grateful to have. There's a lot of cultural significance to it in history and these systems are maintained every year or a few times throughout the year by the community. The community gets together and has cleaning days and work days, and everybody comes together and tends it and supports this flow of this beautiful gift of water...
2025-06-301h 04
Holding the Light: Sharing Hope After Child LossJennifer Oldham: Holding On, Letting Go (Keeping Kindness for Hallie)Jennifer Oldham lived through a moment no parent ever imagines—when an ordinary day turned tragic, in the blink of an eye. A sudden storm. A fallen tree. And the heartbreaking loss of her daughter, Hallie.In the quiet, in the pain, and in the love that endures, she has found the strength to speak—about what happened, how she’s still standing, and holding on to memories while learning to live again. How she is Keeping Kindness for Hallie. And sharing her powerful story of survival after child loss.Links to our conversation with Jennif...
2025-06-1136 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesCapilla Ambar Connects Coffee, Butterflies and Worldwide Visitors" I'm so grateful with people that really like our place. Because you can find a freedom here so nowadays that you are in not [doing] desk work or a job or something. That's harder sometimes. You need someplace to get away. I think that's what people love [about] here. [This is a little bit of a getaway.]" Capilla Ambar Facebook Page Thanks to On Pasture for their unwavering support for our mission to share resources and stories helping farmers and ranchers be more successful. More educational and transformational offerings from...
2025-05-0248 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesNadia Milleron Does Not ConformNadia Milleron is an independent mother, farmer, attorney, and successful advocate who will fight for you. In 2019, Nadia’s daughter was a passenger on a Boeing 737 MAX that crashed in Ethiopia killing all on board. After 2 deadly crashes, instead of taking Boeing’s and the FAA’s word that nothing was wrong and a crash would not happen again, Nadia got involved to hold all involved groups accountable. Nadia went to Washington and helped lead the unanimous passage of the national bi-partisan Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act in 2020 which directed US aircr...
2025-04-0259 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesGwyneth Harris and Neal McNaughten Chase New GrassNewGrass Farmstead raises registered and commercial Clun Forest and Coopworth sheep, for breeding stock, meat, wool, and pasture improvement. We sell raw milk seasonally, and a variety of meats. Sheepskins, hand-dyed yarns, and lamb, mutton, beef, pork, and chicken are available for pre-order or in our self-serve farmstand. Livestock on the farm include thesheep, working border collies (with the occasional litter of pups available), working draft horses, cattle, pigs, and poultry. Our focus is on renovating our land, producing a diverse array of products for our local community, and engaging in the daily rhythms of land and livestock husbandry.
2025-03-261h 02
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBaylee Drown Finds What Makes Her Heart SingBaylee Rose Drown, is a queer woman farmer, educator and community builder. Baylee believes in good food for all people. For Baylee, this starts with caring for soil and extends into seeking justice in our land and food system. Sliding scale CSA, working with meal centers and acknowledging colonial land theft (our land is the home of Nehantic people) are all part working of towards an equitable food system. Baylee was raised on her families' Holstein dairy farm in Michigan. She earned a Bachelors of Science from Michigan State Universities' College of...
2025-02-281h 02
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesCal Hardage Has Lots of Irons in the FireMy hope is that these journeys we share cause the person to take that next step. Whether that next step is buying a roll of poly braid and moving your cows twice if that's oh I need to try and do this for grass fed and go direct to consumer. Wherever you are, I'm hoping the journey helps you take that next step. And for that to happen, I can hear the same thing hundreds of times. But for some reason, that hundredth and first time, it's like, why didn't I think of that?C...
2025-02-101h 05
2025-01-2401 min
Who Watches This PodcastMonster In LawSend a textActor's who've made an epic comeback monthToday were talking about:2005's Monster In Law w/ Jane Fonda Comeback in where Charlotte (Jennifer Lopez) is smitten when she meets Dr. Kevin Fields (Michael Vartan). So when Kevin pops the question after they start dating, Charlotte happily accepts. But she soon realizes that Kevin's mom, Viola (Jane Fonda), is not quite thrilled to have a new family member. Viola, a newscaster, has just lost her job and is feeling rather attached to Kevin, so she regards Charlotte as her new competition...
2025-01-151h 05
Doing Relationships RightThe Power of Forgiveness and Clearing Negative Energy with International Celebrity Psychic Medium, Colby Rebel"Acknowledge and notice the times when you didn't listen to your intuition and learn from those experiences." ~ Colby Rebel Colby Rebel is an award-winning International Celebrity Psychic Medium, best-selling author, and host of the acclaimed Colby Rebel Show podcast. Her unmatched accuracy and precise guidance have made her the go-to confidante of Hollywood’s elite, serving a roster of celebrity and influencer clients. Colby’s unique no-tools approach emphasizes her authenticity and natural gifts and has made her one of the most sought-after psychic mediums of our time. In 2022, she was awarded the distinguished title of Best Psychi...
2024-09-1029 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKate Sabino Learns From ExperienceIt was in the middle of high school that I really started to carve out an interest for myself in and seek experiences in
agricultural production of some fruit and veg, some small livestock. I remember having a conversation with my college counselor about “I'm interested in this, like, where should I look?” She mentioned some of the top agricultural schools in the Northeast, like UVM and UNH, but that was where the conversation ended. It wasn't, “This is what these programs will have to offer you and this is how they can really open your world and help you se...
2024-09-051h 10
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesCarrie & Brent Wasser Balance RelationshipsI remember…doing some chores one day with the pigs and thinking, “I don't need anything other than this. Everything is whole and complete as I do this work here with these animals. –Carrie
You start with lambing and move through into lactation and then we start processing and so being able to manage the
farm in that integrated way. Being able to really understand the performance of the animals and their health and how that relates to the quality of the milk and then how that milk is transformed into our finished products. Having that kin...
2024-08-2755 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesSarah & Kenny Jensen Stay UprightWe might not see the payoff of the things that we're doing here…but the legacy we're leaving for someone to walk
in behind us, that's really important.—Sarah
For me, especially having a job for so many years where there were a lot of days when you wake up and you go, “Man, I really don't want to go to work today”… that really doesn't happen anymore. I wake up every day ready to go. We're working, we're doing what we love together. You can't beat this. –Kenny
Kenny and Sarah are the proud owners of Ber...
2024-08-2051 minWho Watches This PodcastTidelandSend a textIts Terry Gilliam Month!Today were talking about:2006's Tideland where Little Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland) has a very warped childhood. Her parents (Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Tilly) are both drug addicts, and one of her daily chores is to prepare their syringes. After her mother dies of an overdose, her father, Noah, takes her away to his childhood home, but his own mother has passed away and the house is decaying. Then Noah overdoses, and while his body rots in his chair, Jeliza-Rose meets a taxidermist and her unstable brother....
2024-08-121h 14
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEmily Virzi & Rose Thackeray Pivot From Italy to Vermont to Union Brook“I think a lot of people seek out farm and food jobs because they're looking for something profound and they don't even know what it's going to be until they get there.”—Rose
“Every year on the farm is so different. It really is. It feels every year we have different bandwidth for different things and we're improving all the time and making more bandwidth in some areas and losing it in other areas.”—Emily
Emily and Rose both grew up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Their paths crossed in 2015 while working at Maple Wind Fa...
2024-08-031h 00
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesHannah & John Doyle Front Load Hardship“Raising animals is heavy. Even when it goes really well, it's heavy. And when you have losses, like we have had in the last couple of years, it changes the math -- even the finances of it. Okay, yeah, we lost money because we lost so many hens, but what we also lost sleep and tears and to wake up and go out and have a hundred chickens killed in one night--that happened to us once--and it just is so devastating.”—Hannah
“To know that food is not a product that you buy at the store and...
2024-06-221h 09
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesRobert Friedman Raises Poultry IntentionallyI came into farming really, as I got into it, being like--I'm a grower. That's where I want to grow my expertise; how to be a better caretaker for these animals, how to be more efficient with my time, with the land that we're using. To lean on people who are in processing, lean on them because their resources, their expertise are in processing or on the kosher side, lean on those people who really know what is required for it, bring them in and have them apply their expertise. The growth for me has been really needing to...
2024-04-291h 13
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJustin Bramhall and Vanessa Rose Are Part of the SolutionThe occasional summer I would go to Arkansas for a few nights when my family would make the trip out there from
Dallas, Texas, they would only stay for a short period it was my aunt and uncle's Chicken farm. They were conventional growers for Tyson. It was a fun time out there, but I do remember thinking this is an enormous amount of hard work. My aunt and uncle never get to leave this farm and there's one thing I know for sure. And that's--I don't want to be a farmer.—Vanessa
Chickens can't be pro...
2024-04-241h 09
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Level Up Their BusinessIt feels good that we're providing this product for people's nutrition, for their families. They keep coming back to us
and appreciating that. We are who we are; we're the face, we talk to them, we have them to our farm for tours. That's what people are looking for.—Beth
We both have a full time job figuring out how to move this business forward that that you can't get done if you're picking eggs and putting down bedding in the layer houses or fulfilling orders. Can't do it.—Bruce
Beth Whitin...
2024-04-201h 19
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBruce Hennessey and Beth Whiting Climb Mountains and DiversifyI describe farming as really just one long extended expedition. It's very much like a mountaineering expedition where you wake up every day, you're working outside. You have problems, often new problems that crop up at least weekly. It's very much like being in a big mountain expedition where you're constantly working with the weather. You're working with the people on your team. You are focused on a goal. That takes all of your effort that you really have to commit to a hundred percent.—Bruce
It's very similar to being at a camp in a w...
2024-04-131h 10
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesHaley Goulet Educates Her CommunityWatching them [kids] come to the farm; at first, it can be quite challenging. There is definitely an arc of sort of comfortableness just with being outside doing chores, hard manual labor. That takes a minute for a lot of kids to adjust to. But as they adjust, it's so cool to watch them come out of their shells.--Haley
Hello my name is Haley Goulet, I am a livestock manager at a community farm and work to educate the public about livestock farming. I am passionate about teaching folks about the origin of their food and co...
2024-04-0654 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesToby & Melissa Malandrinos Pick Their BattlesI remember being seven or eight years old and drawing… having construction paper, big rolls of paper all over the
living room floor, drawing pictures of where my cows and my sheep and my chickens would go on my future farm.—Melissa
You pick and choose your battles for sure…do we want to focus on cleaning up all of our step-in fence for the sheep
and do all the outdoor stuff or are we going to focus on a house that we can bring friends into? So unfortunately, our game nights have taken a hit on not...
2024-04-041h 17
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesZan and Kimberly Walker-Goncalves Circle Back to their RootsWe had bought this house in Brattleboro. We'd bought the truck. We bought the sheep. We bought dogs. We did all of this long before COVID hit, but then we were like, okay, this is our pandemic project.—Kimberly
Kimberly and Zan Walker-Gonҫalves were both kids exposed to animals but not raised on farms. As parents, they circled back to growing food and raising the maximum number of livestock their town in Massachusetts would legally allow. Five years ago, they packed up everything and moved to a new home where they created WagonTail Farm...
2024-03-271h 11
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesNicolle Ferrier Breeds Fowl for the FutureI've wanted to quit about a hundred gazillion times, a lot- a lot. But I want to do what I love. So that is the key, right? To do what we love. And this is what I love to do. It comes with difficulties and it comes with rewards. I have to be able to handle both and know both.
Nicolle Ferrier and family moved from Southern California to central Vermont to experience a more relaxed lifestyle, but soon found themselves creating a farm and business with plenty of excitement. They raise six different types of...
2024-02-151h 12
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJon Turner Helps to HealThere is a legacy throughout my family of having at least one member who served in all major conflicts back to the Revolutionary War. The other side of that coin is they were all farmers, homesteaders and innovators of their time from Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky.
In 2009, my wife and I kept grew our first garden in a community growing space in northern Vermont. There was a moment of clarity and renewed sense of purpose after being recently discharged from the Marine Corps with multiple combat deployments, that encouraged further exploration into food
production. Over a de...
2024-02-071h 03
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJenn Colby Finds Her PurposeYour humble host has been through some stuff the last few years. At a recent food system gathering event this fall, the call went out inviting folks to tell their stories of transition and transformation. How we went from the old to the new. What we overcame, and what we learned. How our world view changed. I’m still very much a farmer and will continue to be, but the last few years have shown me a new path helping others. That’s why I’m here.
Jenn’s email
Chris Sargent email...
2024-02-0719 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesRidge Shinn Thinks Big PictureWe could actually look into the animal, the live animal, see intramuscular fat and tenderness. We also had these tools, linear measurement tools that we could actually physically measure the animals and began to find almost in any group of cattle the right kind of cattle that would make a delicious piece of meat.
Ridge Shinn is the Executive Director of the Northeast Grass-fed Beef Initiative (NGBI). He also is the co-founder and CEO of Big Picture Beef, recently launched to produce Northeast grass-fed beef for Northeast customers. He has been a leader in the shift from fe...
2024-01-131h 20
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJohn Roberts Part 2: Finding a Purpose Serving FarmersI'm excited that the pandemic--for all its negativity--also said, “Hey, wait a minute. We need to concentrate on food resiliency”. We need to encourage these small diverse farms because the big operations, the five huge companies that sell 99 % of the meat in this country, failed us. For what reason? The structure, this food
system structure failed us.
John Roberts was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Vermont in February 2022.
Roberts immigrated to Vermont from Great Britain in 1974 after e...
2024-01-0644 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJohn Roberts Part 1: Falling in Love with FarmingWe'd rebuilt the milking parlor, which hadn't been operating. We've done all of this sort of stuff. When we came to close the sale we had two years of numbers to show that we actually knew-vaguely knew--what we were doing. We were off and running. We were here from 1977. We’re still here. We sold the farm, and we kept 10 acres, but we farmed until 2012.
John Roberts was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Vermont in February 2022.
R...
2024-01-0653 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesTricia Park Uses Holistic Management to Drive Her Decisions“My husband had been fascinated by Scottish Highlanders. We would drive by this place and you'd have to stop, get out of the car and like look through the woods to see them. And I was like, they're just big, shaggy horned beasts. I don't know about horns, you know, and it was like, oh my gosh. They wanted to sell the herd. They were getting older, had health problems. They wanted it to go somewhere local. A young family. I'm like, well, we're young, we're a family, maybe we could buy some calves. I didn't want anything to do wi...
2024-01-031h 17
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesErin Meding Grows a Farm“I did not grow up in a farming family. I grew up in a small town in the Midwest…there's no one in my family that has ever farmed. I'm pretty sure most of my siblings think I'm crazy.”
Erin and Charles Meding purchased their 27 acre slice of heaven in 2008 and raised their now grown children in the Sunapee Region of NH. They transformed a run down little ranch (900 square feet) into their current farmhouse, built a 3 story barn and established too many gardens to count. They currently have horses, Nigerian dwarf does, chickens, cats and dogs...
2023-12-131h 11
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesCameron Pedigo Farms for the Right Reasons“I'd watch the deer, how they would interact with the cows and turkeys and, you know, other animals. I've always been a keen observer of nature. That started young. That's kind of like the foundation. I didn't realize that's what laid the foundation, except for like, 20 years later.”
Currently Cameron is the farm manager of Anchorage Farm - Registered Romneys. For the past 6 years, he’s been farming the Hudson Valley, NY, following 4 years of service in the Navy and then pursuing his bachelor's degree in NYC. His journey into farming began at a dairy farm in...
2023-10-211h 10
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesChris & Samantha Kemnah Find Less Labor in Dairy“Neither one of us came from a farm family or any kind of money in our background. We've just kind of done it on our good credit. We've leased the farms that we've been on. We are hoping to be able to buy the farm we're on now.”—Samantha Kemnah
“The seasonal intensity of growing vegetables got old. My seventh year, I was like, I should quit last year. Because it was just, between the weather--the hot weather--I run hot as it is just temperature wise.--and my attitude is hot. I'm short tempered. You thro...
2023-09-301h 18
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBrad & Emalee Buttrey Find Real-Life Challenges“We did have the sense to look and say, you know, God created ruminant animals to take advantage of grass and low input. You know, if we've got a grass base, and we take care of that, that's as low input as you're gonna get versus hauling in feed.”—Emalee Buttrey
“There's a lot of challenges that you just don't come across in the classroom or the textbook.” –Brad Buttrey
Raised in McEwen, TN on a small cattle operation, Brad developed a keen interest in reproduction, learning to AI while in hig...
2023-08-151h 13
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesNicole & Jeremiah Vernon Talk Time, Family and Vulnerability
“I have a specific memory of the first time we ever did sheep, I was so mad at my parents, we were going to kill the sheep. And then fast forward like an hour into it. And I came running into the house
holding a sheep tongue and being like, Mom, check this sheep tongue out.”—Jeremiah Vernon
Vernon Family Farm (VFF) is a 1st generation, pastured livestock farm on the Seacoast of New Hampshire. Established in 2014,
VFF works hard to provide wholesome, delicious food to their community through their farm store and th...
2023-08-091h 13
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesTroy Bishopp Part 2: Taking Risks and Being RealisticPart 2 of my conversation with Troy Bishopp, The Grass Whisperer and founder of #lingergrazing. When we talk about meeting people online that we just want to be friends with, I hope you listen and agree with me: he's just the right guy to hang out and drink a beer with. Or a Bloody Mary.
Troy Bishopp web site
Troy Bishopp Instagram
Troy Bishopp LinkedIn
#lingergrazing
On Pasture 2023 Grazing Chart link
Drop a review at www.choosingtofarm.com
Join our Patreon!
2023-07-2236 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesTroy Bishopp Part 1: From Guinea Pig to Linger Grazing
"My buddy Rock Langone, he runs my ice cream store up the road here. Him and I were the young farmers of the county, we were the chosen ones. We had high herd averages, you know, just got out of college. We were making milk, we were doing what we're taught, you know. I went to college, I made a lot of milk. I had good cows. I had good husbandry skills, but it wasn't enough, because the price…the price wasn't enough. So then you start saying, “Well, how am I going to survive as a dairy farmer?” So we...
2023-07-1753 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKaren Hoffman is Peaceful by Nature"There was a guy in my office for years, who used to refer to people like me as hobby farmers. And it drove me crazy. One day I finally said, “You know what? These hobby farmers, if they are getting up every day, and taking care of animals, it's not a hobby. A hobby is something you do when you feel like doing it.”
Karen Hoffman started working for Cornell Cooperative Extension for a few years after grad school, and then began working for USDA-NRCS as an Animal Scientist to help dairy farmers convert to g...
2023-07-081h 11
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBobbie Jean Booth Becomes an Accidental Farmer“I got involved with sheep and farming purely by accident. Aside from a semester Work Study program at UVM dairy, I had no background in farming and no interest in sheep. Then, one cold February while I was farmsitting, 6 out of 8 of the ewes on the farm decided to give birth. I knew nothing about shepherding except for the basics of care while the farmer was gone, and had to dive right into a lambing season completely green. All sorts of lambing issues and farming
challenges came up and I had to just figure it all out. I had he...
2023-06-241h 13
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKate Osgood is All or NothingKate Osgood of Birch Rise Farm in Sanburton, NH, along with her husband Ken and sons Hunter and Henry, loves to go all in on whatever they do. When they decided to move back to the east to raise their family, they didn’t know they’d be starting a farm, renovating a house, and adding a second child all within a few months.
From pigs to meat birds to sheep to farmstays, Kate at Birch Rise Farm has plenty to share.
Birch Rise Farm website
Birch Rise Farm...
2023-06-101h 10
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesNick Weinstock Goes from Foodie to FarmerNick and his family have a productive history as small business owners, investors, and planners. After getting his construction management degree from Michigan State University in 2009, Nick returned to join the family construction company fulltime as a general contractor and supervisor. Starting in 2013 Nick interned on a sustainable livestock farm in New Jersey gaining invaluable knowledge. Nick is not only handy in the sense of being able to fix things, but in being young-ish while already having many years of experience in running a business, building and maintaining customer relationships, and long-term financial planning. Nick is pleased to be a...
2023-06-071h 16
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBecky Harhaj Balances Calm and ChaosFrom Becky: My husband and I moved our kids to a farm in rural southern Minnesota in 2016 to grow better food. We were already purchasing most of our meat from local farmers, but wanted to do it ourselves while giving our kids a better life. I was working fulltime as a hairstylist and teaching at a cosmetology school in the Twin Cities while my husband was working at his own company doing engineering services. We knew we wanted to get away from the chaos of city life, but we had no farm experience. We purchased books on farm practices...
2023-05-091h 00
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesHank & Heather LeTarte Listen to Their Customers“We cleared eight acres and piled the trees by hand. Not the trees but the brush. We had 96 brush piles in one field. And we had no friends left, because we would say to them, ‘Come on over for the weekend. And we'll give you beer and pizza and you can help us pile the brush.’ Nobody would even answer the phone.”
Hank and Heather LeTarte of White Gates Farm in New Hampshire started clearining their land in 1982 out of largely pine woods and a prospective view. They built a home, a family, and a family...
2023-04-2953 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesCarly Farmer Sticks With It“I can't express enough how just beautiful it is to watch the growth. The growth of a farm year after year where you're putting your inputs in, which may just
mean your animals, they’re just fertilizing and grazing for you. I say ‘just’ lightly because that's huge for the field. Those are inputs, and then the next
year to see that come back bigger and better--it's just so cool.”
Carly grew up in the suburbs of Massachusetts with a passion for animals. She received a degree in animal science and continued on to earn her PhD in Sustainable Agricultur...
2023-04-221h 03
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesMatt Kovarik Thinks Outside the Box“I think that you have to listen to what everybody has to say, and then just pick and choose different parts of their advice. That's complicated for some people; they just want a How-To Guide for starting their farm. It’s not that simple--at least it hasn't been for us.”
Shannon and Matt raise waterfowl and grassfed sheep on leased land in Maine. After working on farms for other people in North Carolina after college, they gained experience before heading to Maine to start their own venture. What they've created and steadily grown over the past five years...
2023-04-151h 08
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKatie Steere Finds Her Dream Life"I get a lot of people saying, you're living my dream life. I'm so jealous. I know it's a compliment. But I'm not living your dream life. I'm living my dream life. And I know what it comes with. I know all the s-h-i-t it comes with. And it's still my dream. But for most people it's not. It's not their dream."
Former vegan and marketing communications professional Katie Steere was 2,000 miles and ten years away from her family's longtime-shuttered farm in Rhode Island. A TED talk convinced her to give two weeks' notice, hike the Pacific...
2023-04-0852 min
Takin' Care of Lady Business®Ep 73: Building to Own: How Betsy Morgan Went From Building Media Companies For Others to Building For Herself in Private EquityBetsy Morgan is the Co-Founder of Magnet Companies, a private equity-backed company focused on media and commerce, and an Associate Professor at Columbia Business School and Columbia College. Prior to Magnet, Ms. Morgan served as an Executive in Residence of LionTree, an advisory and merchant bank firm specializing in technology and media. Ms. Morgan was the CEO of TheBlaze, an early multi-platform and direct-to-consumer news and entertainment company. Prior to TheBlaze, Ms. Morgan was the first CEO of The Huffington Post. Ms. Morgan currently serves on the board of directors of the following privately-held companies: Cox Media Group, Trusted Media...
2023-04-0533 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesBrent Beidler Chooses Not to Farm
“I am very delightfully holding on to the things that I hold dear about myself that are a part of my life as a farmer, and not integrating that into my life going forward, where I'm not commercially farming. I really appreciate being remembered, and that people still value the thoughts that I've had over these years.”
Falling in love with farming as a young boy on his grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania, Brent Beidler dreamed of starting his own dairy farm in Vermont. He worked on many farms growing up, went to school for agri...
2023-04-011h 09
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesDriving Chat: AgritourismHere’s a quick mini-episode I wanted to share about agritourism. I recorded it while driving home from the International Workshop on Agritourism last fall. Fair warning that it’s only lightly edited. I just came across this recording and thought it might be a useful thing to provide some background about what’s happening. I talk about agritourism and farmstays a bit in various places especially my social media, and this debrief kind of gets at why I think it’s a big deal. I’m so excited about it as an opportunity for farmers and ranchers looking for new opt...
2023-02-0934 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKatelyn Duban Connects Rural Women“From what I’ve learned, it's always best to learn from other people. Learn from people who have been doing this before. If you can find a mentor in the field that you are interested in, I think that's the best thing you can do for yourself. I think it's super important for folks who have the knowledge, to share that knowledge."
Katelyn Duban was born and raised in Southern Alberta, Canada and married into agriculture in 2016. At the time, it was not her intention to be an active member of the farm but she quickly found a pas...
2023-01-281h 04
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesJessica Newman Starts With Why“I really love the sheep. They're not stupid. Nor do I think they desire to die, as I've heard on more than one occasion. I do think they require awareness. They also are so instinct driven--which makes sense, based on what they are--being totally prey-driven. They will do things entirely based on that instinct. If it's fight or flight, I'm flighting first and fighting never.”
Jessica Newman of Southview Station moved back to Pennsylvania to combine her nursing career and love of genetics with a growing Texel sheep operation. She’s had to navigate starting from an open f...
2023-01-111h 11
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesSeason 2 TrailerComing soon! The second season of Choosing to Farm is bringing you even more great stories of the journey into--and sometimes out of--farming.
We'll talk about new models, new ways of being successful, and where new farmers are coming from.
I might even ask about a few of their Worst Days. ;-P
So excited to get talking--see you soon, friends!
Listen to back episodes through Anchor, Spotify, Apple podcasts, or right at www.choosingtofarm.com.
2022-10-0101 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesKeeping It Simple with Jascha Pick“I didn't have mechanical background, I didn't grow up fixing tractors. I had never driven a tractor. I wasn't good with equipment. Grazing was very approachable. It just really appealed to me. You're outside, you're working with the environment. It just grabbed me really fast.”
Jascha Pick is a sheep farmer based in Northern Vermont, who didn’t set out to be a farmer but caught the farming bug. He fell in love with farming, and especially with grazing. He’s used a lot of creativity to get started, including a trip to New Zealand, grazing plenty of back...
2022-07-121h 19
Healthcare Provider Happy Hour PodcastSolving Healthcare Culture Challenges Through the Power of Gratitude, with Scott Colby, Say It with GratitudeIn this week’s episode, I am joined by Scott Colby, owner of Say It with Gratitude. Scott has embarked on a path as an entrepreneur and speaker after leaving a career at a hospital, during which he never felt appreciated, and never knew his worth.After an eye-opening experience in Guatemala, during which Scott witnessed firsthand the power of gratitude even in poor living conditions, he launched Say It With Gratitude, which helps companies increase happiness in the workplace by having gratitude as a core value. In addition to delivering his message of gratitude around the wor...
2022-07-0540 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 18: Learning and Leading in Business with Dallas Mount“Go and work for a bad boss. Go and spend some time breaking somebody else's machines, losing tens of thousands of dollars on their payroll, before you're doing it on your own payroll. That timing is probably somewhere between, two years at a minimum, and maybe ten years at a maximum. If you do it for much longer than ten years, you're probably going to be so dependent on that salary, it's gonna be really hard to step away from that and make some bold moves.”
Dallas Mount is the CEO of Ranch Management Consultants, which is the...
2022-05-261h 03Who Watches This PodcastEp. 122 Can't Hardly Wait W/ Jennifer Love HewittSend a textIts May and I am OBSESSED Today we talk about:it's 1998 and we CANT HARDLY WAIT on this teen rom com of all these teens who party on the final night of their high school life. If you guys have any request for future movie request please send us an emailat whowatchesthispodcast@gmail.comJoin the FB group page:https://www.facebook.com/WhoWatchesThisPodcast/Our equipment:Mic: https://amzn.to/3o12CObM...
2022-05-0458 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.17 Is Choosing to Farm Enough? with Jenn Colby“I think sometimes the choice to farm also means that folks choose not to have a life. They may not recognize it as that. Sometimes the choice to farm or ranch doesn't necessarily automatically set them up for that. Responsibility weighs really heavily on the shoulders of farmers and ranchers. I think everyone deserves to have a life but I really think that farmers and ranchers deserve to have a life. I just don't know if that always happens. And I don't know if the choice to farm is actually enough.”
We can look at how we farm...
2022-04-301h 21
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.16 Margaret Chamas Part 2 and Listener Comments“For people who get into extension and especially stick with it, there's this compulsive need to make those connections. Now I consider myself a bit of a subject matter expert on goats, but as an extension agent, I wasn't the subject matter expert on pretty much anything. Especially since it was a crops county, and I'm a livestock person, but I was the connection finder. I was the one who would say, hey, you need to talk to X, Y, or Z, or I know so and so's doing this in whatever county, or here's this researcher who I kno...
2022-04-2346 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp 1.15 Margaret Chamas Part 1“For a long time, it's been just like struggling to get my farm to the bare minimum of what I would consider acceptable in my head. There was no pride, no accomplishment, because before that I was failing. So I was simply not failing now that I've done this thing. I'm trying really hard to be able to take accomplishment in the improvement, and the continuous improvement.”
Margaret Chamas fell in love with goats through 4H. That was a life changer. She went to college for animal science, started working for farmer organizations after graduation, and began buil...
2022-04-1159 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.14 Abbie Corse“Since coming back, it's been sort of this really challenging and interesting evolution to understand how a working mother who is not farming with her partner can take over an operation that has traditionally been run by four to six people. “
Abbie Corse grew up hating cows. She went to school for journalism and got involved with arts administration. Then she realized what a lack of seasonal work and attachment to a land base was doing to her mental health. She and her husband chose to move home and Abbie began to reconstruct her relationship with the farm...
2022-04-111h 19
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp 1.13 Ashlyn Bristle & Abraham McClurg“The jobs that I worked were a pickle factory and a spinnery and an apple orchard, All of those were learning how to operate in a system watching how other people create systems and deal with the logistics of production. I think now that's made me a pretty strong systems thinker. I'm good at being strategic and good at looking at the entire large moving sort of juggernaut of the farm and identifying where it's not working.”—Ashlyn Bristle
Ashlyn Bristle and Abraham McClurg come from a variety of backgrounds in art, education, cooking, and non-profit management. They m...
2022-03-271h 21
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.12 Jenn Colby on Leadership, Introverts, and Being a Real Farmer“It feels scary to work with a dangerous animal, but it's within our wheelhouse. To do something that is unknown--to reach out, to ask for help, to admit we don't know--to go into that sort of dark place outside of our circle of control and our circle of knowledge into some nebulous “out there”, so that we can make that circle bigger--THAT’s scary. I gotta tell you, once you open that door, once you open that circle, it's COOL. It's really cool. You sort of see the world in a different way. And feel lighter.”—Jenn Colby
A fun two...
2022-03-2054 min
The Yarn#160 Remembering Gary Paulsen with Agent Jennifer FlanneryIn this episode, Jennifer Flannery talks about her unlikely path to becoming Gary Paulsen's agent, and shares what it was like to work with the legendary author.
2022-03-1927 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.11 Jesse McDougall Part 2“I think that climate change, and the collapse of so many of our ecological systems is the pressure that's going to push human evolution into a new phase. And I think that has to be the story. “
Part 2 of my conversation with Vermont farmer Jesse McDougall ranged a little more widely than just the choice to farm, but that choice shouldn’t be something made within a vacuum. Processing, marketing, aggregation, and broader environmental impacts are all part of the picture in a farm ecosystem. We also talk about Jesse’s use of a new, regeneratively focused funding...
2022-03-1258 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.10 Jesse McDougall Part 1“It was the next generation for the farm…and so it came to [my wife] Cally or nobody. And we thought, well, hell, we might be better than nobody. So we raised our hand and said, “Let us give it a shot.”
Jesse McDougall had never farmed. His wife Cally had grown up adjacent to her four-generation-family’s farm, but neither had any idea what might happen when they decided to shift from coding web sites to managing land. Through their painful introduction, they learned firsthand what happens when chemical-dependent land loses its crutch and found themselves stumbling...
2022-03-061h 02
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.9 Christian Wiedemann“I think part of the reason that I have pursued a career in real estate development in addition to being involved with my family’s [ranch] business is because there’s so much overlap…if you don’t understand the land piece, then you’re missing a big piece of the picture.
Christian Wiedemann is the 5th generation on his family’s ranch, located near San Francisco. He grew up hosting school field trips for cattle branding events, and watching the increased interface between the suburbs and their livestock-land management. He went away to school, working in renewable ener...
2022-02-2751 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.8 Kristen Judkins“So I went around on the farm tour and I went to check out all their barns and I spent like eight weeks almost every day going to visit somebody, talking about their sheep. Going from barn to barn I realized, ‘Oh, everybody does this really differently.’
Kristen Judkins didn’t expect to become a farmer, in fact, she’s not even sure she’s comfortable with the term, but she moved to Vermont and fell in love with fiber arts. Then the Great Goat Giveaway happened…well, she’ll tell that story.
As a solo farmer star...
2022-02-191h 12
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.7 Tip Hudson“Rangeland science is this crazy complex combination of living and non-living things and people. It’s not simple at all.”
While the Art of Range host Tip Hudson is an experienced rangeland ecologist on the technical side, I was deeply interested in his take on the value and importance of “long form conversation”. We chatted about brain science, new and old(er) ranchers, who should be listening to and learning from (both of) our podcasts, and the fact that our grazing ecosystems require both knowledge and wise application.
Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Art of R...
2022-02-1253 minThe Yarn#158 Lisa Fipps - STARFISH UnraveledIn this episode, author Lisa Fipps takes us behind the scenes of her Printz Honor-winning book, STARFISH.This episode is sponsored by TRUSTING READERS: POWERFUL PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT READING, written by Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind and published by Heinemann.
2022-02-0922 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.6 Austin & Maggie Troyer“I think for me, my pre-farming life had little experience in farming, but I think the way my parents raised me, it’s just being honest. It’s working hard and trying to build something bigger than you.”—Austin Troyer
Austin and Maggie Troyer of Crossroads Land + Livestock in Ohio figured out pretty early in life what they didn’t want to do, which led them to farming right out of high school. Austin started by working on a beef ranch for several years and then out on his own with custom cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry. He and Maggi...
2022-02-051h 09
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp 1.5 Jinny Hardy Cleland“Problem solvers make the best farmers. If you’re not a problem solver, it makes your farming life so much harder.”
I’ve known Jinny Cleland of Four Springs Farm in Royalton, Vermont for more than 20 years, which is about half of the time she’s been farming. We’ve had great long talks about farming, business, faith (she is a Christian Scientist), and much more while processing turkeys together. When you are elbow-deep in bird carcass and wet feathers, you really get to know a person.
I have great appreciation for the way she embraced farmi...
2022-01-2954 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp 1.4 Matt SkoglundOn first thinking about ranching bison, Matt said he thought “I’m a kid from suburban Chicago, I could never do that.” And then he went on with his day. As he describes it, “I didn’t entertain the thought of it, really. But then months later, it was still there.”
Matt Skoglund didn’t start as a ranch kid or even a kid from the country. He had a couple of different careers before deciding in 2017 with his wife Sarah to find a ranch and begin raising bison outside Bozeman, Montana. In 2018, North Bridger Bison was born. Along the...
2022-01-221h 10
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.3 Jenn Colby & Chris Sargent“People who don’t farm don’t realize how much it really governs what you can and can not do with the construct of your lives. Unless you’ve got the systems in place to manage that stuff.”—Chris Sargent
When I had the idea to start this podcast, my husband Chris Sargent was fully on board and very supportive of my goal to share the stories of first-generation and other farmers making the conscious choice to make livestock farming a serious part of their lives. After a few interviews and a question I posed in our CTF Facebook...
2022-01-151h 02
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp. 1.2 Randy & Lisa Robar“Yeah, neither Lisa or I grew up on a farm. So this is all new. This was not in our plans. I was chasing the corporate ladder. She was a public-school teacher. Then we started to look into food, which is a spiral. A downward spiral, if you start to do that, because you discover that so much of the food in a supermarket—that’s not really food, and it's probably not healthy for you. And so our solution was, fine, we'll just grow our own.”—Randy Robar
Randy and Lisa Robar didn’t expect to become dairy...
2022-01-0851 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesEp 1.1 Marc & Cheryl Cesario“I would say the overarching of all of this is actually understanding that this is a business. Right? It’s great, it’s farming, it’s pastoral. It’s all these things., but at the end of the day, this is a business and a business needs certain things to exist and function.”—Cheryl Cesario
Thanks for joining our inaugural episode, featuring Marc and Cheryl Cesario of Meetingplace Pastures in Cornwall, Vermont. Marc and Cheryl have been farming at their current location since 2009, joining their personal and business lives together right from the start. They currently graze cattle and she...
2022-01-011h 12
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesChore Chat: IntentionsWhen we do physical work, lots of us think deep thoughts. I recorded this mini episode as an experiment...what sort of deep thoughts come out on the topic of setting intentions, in the middle pf chores?
Let me know if you like this format...and I would love to hear your thoughts about other topics for a Chore Chat!
For more than 25 years, I’ve been working with farmers on all kinds of production, natural resource, business, and success issues. What I’ve come to realize is that it’s rarely animal health or product...
2021-12-2820 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesPreview Mini-Ep 0.1 Why Choosing to Farm?I've been spending a lot of time thinking about why I even wanted to do this podcast. (Why I think this is even a good idea, I mean.)
What I have come to realize is that I want there to be more farmers and ranchers in the world. I want there to be more people managing livestock on the land, in responsible and regenerative ways. I want there to be more livestock farmers who actually make a living managing livestock. I want there to be profitable livestock farms and ranches, and healthy families. What I'm hoping to...
2021-12-1814 min
The Church Planting PodcastThe Weight of it AllChurch Planting is tough and can be heavy for the families of those that endeavor to start new churches. Jennifer and Amanda discuss the practice of depending on Jesus for the strength required.
2021-12-1611 min
The Church Planting PodcastBoundaries RequiredBoundaries are required for church planting families to keep things healthy. Jennifer and Amanda discuss the boundaries they have set in place for their families to help promote health and safety in a church planting environment.
2021-11-2910 minThe Yarn#153 Amy Timberlake - EGG MARKS THE SPOT UnraveledIn this episode, author Amy Timberlake takes us behind the scenes of her chapter book, EGG MARKS THE SPOT, illustrated by Jon Klassen.This episode is sponsored by TRUSTING READERS: POWERFUL PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT READING, written by Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind and published by Heinemann.
2021-11-2535 min
The Church Planting PodcastSurprising Jobs of a Church Planting WifeChurch planting wives often find themselves dong jobs they don't want to do and aren't equipped for. Amanda and Jennifer talk about some of those jobs and where they draw strength to accomplish the tasks ahead of them.
2021-11-2212 minThe Yarn#152 Betsy Bird - LONG ROAD TO THE CIRCUS UnraveledIn this episode, author Betsy Bird takes us behind the scenes of her middle grade historical fiction novel, LONG ROAD TO THE CIRCUS, illustrated by David Small.This episode is sponsored by TRUSTING READERS: POWERFUL PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT READING, written by Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind and published by Heinemann.
2021-11-1429 min
The Church Planting PodcastHow Church Planting Effects Your KidsSomething potential planter wives worry about most is how planting may effect their kids. Jennifer and Amanda discuss their experience of church planting while raising kiddos
2021-10-2522 min
Choosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesChoosing to Farm: New Generation StoriesAre you a first- or returning-generation farmer or rancher? Maybe you want to hear the stories of those who’ve made the leap? Join us weekly starting January 1, as we dive into the large and small moments that make us choose to farm.
2021-10-0601 min
The Church Planting PodcastEpisode 3 (Wives): Meet the Host - Jennifer CliftonMeet one of our new host, Jennifer Clifton! She has been a church planter wife in the Northern Virginia for 16 years now. Hear some of her story and how her family got into church planting.
2021-09-2115 minThe Yarn#143 David LaRochelle & Mike Wohnoutka - SEE THE CAT UnraveledIn this episode, author David LaRochelle and illustrator Mike Wohnoutka take us behind the scenes of their Geisel Award-winning book SEE THE CAT: THREE STORIES ABOUT A DOG.This episode is sponsored by TRUSTING READERS: POWERFUL PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT READING, written by Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind and published by Heinemann.
2021-06-1926 minThe Yarn#142 Kate Messner - DR. FAUCI UnraveledIn this episode, author Kate Messner talks about her picture book biography DR. FAUCI: HOW A BOY FROM BROOKLYN BECAME AMERICA'S DOCTOR, illustrated by Alexandra Bye. This episode is sponsored by TRUSTING READERS: POWERFUL PRACTICES FOR INDEPENDENT READING, written by Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind and published by Heinemann.
2021-06-0619 minThe Yarn#129 Christopher Paul Curtis - THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM Turns 25!In this episode, author Christopher Paul Curtis takes us behind the scenes of his debut novel, THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM - 1963. The Newbery Honor-winning book turns 25 this year.This episode is sponsored by Heinemann and their professional book A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO READING CONFERENCES by Jennifer Serravallo.
2020-11-2525 minThe Yarn#128 Matthew Cordell - HELLO, NEIGHBOR UnraveledCaldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell takes us behind the scenes of his picture book biography of Mr. Rogers, HELLO, NEIGHBOR.This episode is sponsored by Heinemann and their professional book A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO READING CONFERENCES by Jennifer Serravallo.
2020-11-2030 minThe Yarn#121 Jeff Kinney - DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (and More)In this episode, author/illustrator/cartoonist Jeff Kinney takes us behind the scenes of his bestselling series, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID and new Rowley Jefferson spinoff books. Jeff talks about his unorthodox creative process, his latest (social distanced) book tour, his favorite grade-school teacher, and shares some hopeful words to educators about the upcoming school year.This episode is sponsored by A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, written by Jennifer Serravallo and published by Heinemann.
2020-07-2920 minThe Yarn#120 What is Bookshop?In this episode, Colby talks with Sarah High, partnerships manager for Bookshop, a startup that's taking on Amazon and supporting independent bookstores.This episode is sponsored by A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, written by Jennifer Serravallo and published by Heinemann.
2020-07-2112 minThe Yarn#115 Mitali Perkins - BETWEEN US AND ABUELA UnraveledAuthor Mitali Perkins takes us behind the scenes of her picture book, BETWEEN US AND ABUELA: A FAMILY STORY FROM THE BORDER, illustrated by Sara Palacios.This episode is sponsored by Heinemann and their professional book A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO READING CONFERENCES by Jennifer Serravallo.
2020-04-3013 minThe Yarn#114 Donalyn Miller & Colby - Book AccessIn this episode, host Colby Sharp talks with Donalyn Miller (The Book Whisperer) about a topic close to both of their hearts - book access for kids.This episode is sponsored by Heinemann and their professional book A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO READING CONFERENCES by Jennifer Serravallo
2020-04-0629 min
Boss HagsThe Alanis Morissette Hour of PowerWe are joined by guest Colby Johnson as we talk about his new Range Rover, all things Disney, and Alanis Morissette's romantic past.
2019-06-0439 min
Reading With Mr. SharpReading Aloud The Evil Princess vs. The Brave NightToday we read aloud Jennifer and Matthew Holm’s new picture book.
2019-03-1402 min
Congressional Dish163: "Net Neutrality"The Internet plays an essential role in our modern society and yet the way the Internet will be governed is still unclear. In anticipation of an impending Federal Communications Commission vote to reverse the so called "net neutrality" regulation implemented during the Obama administration, we look at the law which the FCC is trying to enforce. We also examine our current lawmaker's plans for Internet governance by listening to highlights of three hearings featuring testimony from lawyers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Please Support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here...
2017-12-112h 38
The Yarn#30 Kate Beasley and Jennifer Holm (S2 E1)This is the first episode of Season 2, focusing on middle grade novel GERTIE'S LEAP TO GREATNESS by debut author Kate Beasley. In this episode we also check in with our friend from Season 1, Jennifer Holm, who talks about her debut author experience.
2016-10-0207 min
The Yarn#9 Fact or Fiction w/ Jennifer and Matthew Holm (S1 E9)In this episode Jenni and Matt Holm talk about which parts of Sunny Side Up came from their actual childhood.
2015-10-2222 min
The Yarn#8 Jennifer And Matthew Holm (S1 E8)In the final episode of the first season of The Yarn, Sunny Side Up author Jennifer Holm and illustrator Matthew Holm talk about working on this book together.
2015-08-2428 min
Jennifer Prymek: Fit For Photos Success StoryJennifer Prymek is a busy professional mom that was 39 when going through Fit For Photos for the first time. 2 of her major struggles when trying to find a fitness and nutrition plan that worked for her were 1) coming off ankle surgery made working out a challenge at times and 2) a variety […]
2014-06-1029 min