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?

Kyle Lybarger from Native Habitat Project joins us to discuss how he fights to protect some of the South Eastern Prairie’s most endangered species. He tells many stories of prairies that he has reclaimed, saved, and reconstructed. We also discuss how hunting practices affect conservation.

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.

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.

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.

Travis Frank, host of The Flush, joins us to share haunting stories of fishing, hunting, and how he aims to make a difference in the hunting/conservation world.

Some of these stories are truly bone chilling. We also talk extensively about the moon and fishing and how the two are related intimately.

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.

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.

We start this one off with an incredible question from a listener, Travis. He asked how to interseed more diversity into his grass dominate fields. Nicolas attempts to answer, then Kent brings the topic which is an article about Human Extinction.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.