The Prairie Farm Podcast

Ep. 358 How A Writer And Comedian From the Midwest Became The World’s First Celebrity

Mark Schneider, development and marketing manager of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri, joins the Prairie Farm Podcast to talk about the real Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) and how he became the "world's first celebrity".hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seeds, CRP, hunting habitat needs)
 
McKay Insurance (for all your financial advising and insurance needs)
 
Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop, forage mixes, waterway mixes and more)

Ep. 357 (Coffee Time) Legalized Hunting on National Parks and Grazing Leases on BLM Ground

We dig into two big conservation stories... the Trump administration's memo opening select national park lands and wildlife refuges to hunting, and the BLM's decision to revoke American Prairie Reserve's bison grazing leases. We weigh both sides honestly and talk about what it means for the long game.
 
hokseynativeseeds.com (for CRP, backyard pollinator, native pasture mixes, and more)
 
BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird dog and bird hunting supplies)

Ep. 356 What Great Habitat Looks Like and Why Hunters Are America’s Conservationists w/Travis Frank

Travis Frank, host of The Flush TV show and podcast, joins Kent, and Nicolas in Minnesota for a wide-ranging conversation on upland bird hunting and habitat. From Iowa pheasants and Kansas quail restoration to hunting dogs and conservation philosophy, this one covers a lot of ground worth covering.hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your habitat mixes, CRP mixes, and other native seed needs)
 
IowaCoverCrop.com (for all your cover crop, small grain, and non row crop seed needs)

Ep. 355 (Coffee Time) Does “No Mow May” ACTUALLY Help The Bees??

Nicolas, Kent, and Riley break in the new studio with a conversation about society's spring lawn routine. They dig into No Mow May, what actually started it, what a 2023 peer review found, and which common lawn weeds genuinely help native bees.
 
hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your backyard prairie, pollinator mixes, habitat mixes, and native seed consultation)
 
MckayInsAgency.com (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)
 
BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies)

Ep. 354 The Man Who Manages the Most Diverse Prairie We’ve Ever Seen

Keith Horn stopped for coffee and a donut on his way mushroom hunting. A real estate sign a block away changed the course of his life. The 50 acres he bought in 2001 turned out to be the most diverse prairie we have ever seen, hosting 665 native species across five prairie types.Hoksey Native Seeds (for all your backyard prairie, CRP mixes, and more)BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and bird dog supplies needs)

Ep. 353 (Coffee Time) How Trees Affect Mental Health and A New Study on Agrochemicals and Cancer

Trees cut depression by a third, reduce crime, and make people spend more money. That's what the research says. Then the team brings a brand new Nature Medicine study linking Tordon herbicide to early-onset colorectal cancer, and the maps are nearly identical. 
 
hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your prairie, CRP, hunting mixes, and native seed needs)Iowa Cover Crop (for all your grains, cover crops, forage mixes, and more)Mckayinsagency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Ep. 352 How to ACTUALLY Fix the Water Quality and Are Data Centers Good for Rural America

Johnathon Swanson from Polk County Conservation joins Nicolas and Kent talk about Iowa's water quality crisis. They dig into tile drainage, nitrates, saturated buffers, constructed wetlands, and what's actually working on the ground. Plus data centers, farm diversification, and quail nostalgia.
 
Hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your backyard prairie, hunting habitat mixes, CRP mixes, pollinator mixes, and more)
 
Mckayinsagency.com (for all your insurance and financial advising needs)
 
BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting needs, and for your bird dogs' supplies as well)

Ep. 351 (Coffee Time) The Pollinator Prairie Death Spiral and the Details on The Boundary Waters

A new ISU study is shaking up how we think about prairies. It turns out pollinators don't just need the prairie, the prairie needs them back. Kent, Nicolas, and Riley dig into what declining pollinator populations mean for plant diversity, then shift to the Boundary Waters mining fight and what's actually at stake ecologically.
 
Hoksey Native Seeds (for all your backyard prairie, CRP, Prairie Strip Mixes, Hunting Habitat and More)
 
IowaCoverCrop.com (for all your cover crop and small grain needs)

Ep. 350 She's Read More Midwest Pioneer Journals Than Almost Anyone

Val Van Kooten, administrator at the State of Iowa Historical Society, returns for her third episode. The conversation digs into pioneer journal entries, pre-tractor farm life, an April Fool's fact-or-fiction game, the phenomenon of declinism, claim jumper clubs, and what autonomous tractors might do to Midwest culture.hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP mixes, backyard prairie mixes, hunting habitat mixes, and more)Oh and check out our new Prairie Farm Forum!Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop needs)McKay Insurance (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

Ep. 349 (Coffee Time) How Would Mandatory Set Aside Acres Economically Affect Your Rural County Today?

This week on Coffee Time Wednesday Nicolas breaks down what would actually happen if the Corn Belt set aside 10% of its acres for conservation. Using over 40 sources, he walks through the county level economics of lost grain sales, higher commodity prices, hunting revenue, and CRP payments. The math might surprise you.hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP, native mixes, butterfly wildflower patches, hunting habitat mixes, and more!)
BirdHunterSupply.com (to give back to conservation while purchasing your bird hunting supplies)