The Prairie Farm Podcast

Presented by Hoksey Native Seeds

Where conservation, agriculture, and and lifestyle meet — that’s where The Prairie Farm exists. Hosted by Nicolas Lirio and Kent Boucher, this podcast explores the joy of the outdoors, the responsibilities of environmental stewardship, the synergies between agriculture and nature, and the impacts all of it has on us humans. Whether you’re interested in hunting, the environment, farming alongside nature, outdoorsy hobbies, or all of the above, this podcast has something for you.

Join us on our various podcast networks!

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Ep. 257 (Coffee Time) Bush Honeysuckle and How to Bring Back the Prairie Like It Was In 1491

Join us for another awesome episode of The Prairie Farm Podcast. In this episode discuss how honey locust are affecting the flora and fauna of water ways. We also answer a fantastic question about establishing a prairie over 10 acres. What’s really interesting about this question is whether or not if would actually be better for humanity if we did have the exact landscape of 1491. Prairie would be everywhere. Buffalo would roam. Birds would be too numerous to count. But would it be good?

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Ep. 255 (Coffee Time) The Illinois Dust Storm, CRP Enrollment, and Public Land Sales

In this episode Nicolas, Kent, and Riley discuss some of the major conservation headlines of our time. First we dive into the dust storm that swept through Illinois last week. Then we bring everyone up to date on CRP (conservation reserve project)’s open enrollment. We’re very excited that it opened. Then we dive into the sneaky deal that congress tried to do with selling Federal Public Lands. We are less excited about that. We end with our announcement of our merch line.

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Ep. 254 Prairie Burns and the Future Generation of Conservation with Ryan Kurtz

Ryan Kurtz is the Program Advisor for Natural Resources at Hawkeye Community College. He joined us to talk about what the future of conservation looks like, considering he is with the future generation regularly. We also discuss burning prairie and how to manage a high quality prairie. Ryan has a lot of experience in native prairies, and gives great advise, especially with burning, in this episode.

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Ep. 253 (Coffee Time) Farm Bureau and Vermeer Goes to the Moon

We start this one with a little fun question about how useful Farm Bureau… Considering we don’t want to get sued, we answer this question with some personal stories. Then we discuss why Vermeer, an agricultural manufacturing company, would work towards drilling Helium3 on the moon.

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Ep. 251 (Coffee Time) Planting Prairie in Mulch and the Founder of Fortnite

Friends… May is a CRAZY time of year for us— especially early May. So we kept this one short and sweet. We answer a question from a guest about planting prairie into mulch that comes from timber stand improvement. Then we move on to some interesting conservation news about the founder of Fortnite.

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Ep. 250 Will Dire Wolves ACTUALLY Help Conservation

Dr. Julie Meach, a paleontologist from Des Moines University, joins us to talk in depth about the Pleistocene era, dire wolves, and conservation in science. She goes in depth about what the scientific community is saying about the experiments and whether or not she thinks the Dire Wolves will help humanity and the earth’s ecology.

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Ep. 248 The Founding of Pella, IA and Tulip Time with Val Van Kooten

Val Van Kooten, former Director of the Pella Historical Museum, joined us to discuss the founding of Pella, IA as the founders settled in Iowa. The Schulte family was good friends with Abraham Lincoln and were pivotal into making their region of Iowa into what it is today.

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Ep. 247 (Coffee Time) Biosolids, Facial Scrub, and Shop Cat

Human biosolids used as fertilizer are proving to LITERALLY be deadly. It got one farmer to have his farm deemed unsuitable to farm. It’s no joke. But why? Isn’t manure (human or otherwise) good for the soil?

Check out this episode of the Prairie Farm Podcast to find out more!

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Ep. 246 Land Prices and Protecting Our Resources

Steve Hanson is one of Iowa’s best habitat managers and is a retired hunting guide and long time land realtor. When sitting down with him, we discuss land prices, tariffs, and protecting our hunting resources. He also tells some hair raising stories about his hunting escapades.

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Ep. 245 (Coffee Time) When Should We Get Rid of Regulation

Regulation can be frustrating for some people. But it place a vital role in making sure human’s “progress” doesn’t destroy the world and resources we rely on. Nicolas, Kent, and Riley discuss DOGE and its role in pulling away regulation. Is this good or bad? Join us for another riveting episode of Coffee Time Wednesday!

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Ep. 244 How to Revitalize Rural America (guest host Judd McCullum)

Chase and Jackie Burns join us to discuss how they are bringing life back into their small town. I mean… this town is tiny! They have opened a small retail store.

The rural Midwest is plagued with ghost town syndrome, and it will take people like Chase and Jackie to step up and do something about it. See how they are doing it.

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Ep. 243 (Coffee Time) Are Dire Wolves Really Back??

There’s a lot of buzz on the internet about Dire Wolves being brought back from extinction. This has happened through DNA collected on old fossils/remains of dire wolves and splicing the genes in with a modern wolf. Nicolas, Kent, and Riley dive into what this means, and if it is truly a Lazaras species.

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Ep. 242 How to Graze Your Cattle on Native Plants

Hunter Lehman, CEO of Grazing Lands, has been honing the skill of intensive rotational grazing. We go in depth on this topic. Many people are starting to see the value of rotationally grazing their cattle. There has also been a shift to grazing on natives. We go into the pros and cons on these practices.

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Ep. 241 (Coffee Time) Agrochemical Laws, Agrochemical Fires, and Reed Canary Grass

In this awesome episode of The Prairie Farm Podcast— Coffee Time Wednesday we discuss agrochemical laws that could have huge ramifications of the health of the Midwest. Also, there was an agrochemical fire in Otley, Iowa that has us all questioning if how we do things in the Midwest is the best way. Oh, and we hate Reed Canary Grass. It’s really hard to get rid of.

Listen now on Podbean!

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Ep. 240 Bring Back the Good Life with Lucas Fritch

Luke Fritch, or “Fritch”, is a dear friend of the pod and a VERY insightful man. He is a fifth generation farmer, a school teacher, and a philosopher on the hollowing of the Midwest. We deeply enjoyed conversing with him on how the Midwest used to be much more vibrant. He is an old soul and carries that with him.

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