Explore every episode of the podcast The Prairie Farm Podcast

Matt Vermeersch of Root and Raise Land and Livestock joins us to talk virtual fencing, Highland cattle, and grazing sheep under solar panels. We dig into whether Nofence collars pay off, why Matt’s beef tested at a 1.14 to 1 omega ratio, and what Iowa’s culture really looks like today.

Be sure to stay tuned for our new outro at the end of the episode- HUGE thanks to musical talents of Kenny Leiser, Augie Dougherty and the always generous Doug Duren.

Follow Kenny: @madisonviolin

Follow Augie: @augiedougherty

Follow Doug: @dougduren

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

Election day at the shop, and the crew is drowning in political mailers. Nicolas, Kent, and Riley dig into the billions of pieces mailed this election season, how many trees that takes, and a contest to turn 2028’s mailers into art. Plus sports betting, fear, and Nicolas’s latest virtue signal.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Hannah Inman, CEO of the Great Outdoors Foundation, joins Nicolas and Judd to talk about how a small Iowa nonprofit moves tens of millions of dollars into wetlands and water quality. They dig into why conservation has to pay, who funds it, data centers and water, and prairie in HOAs.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

When does a hobby cross the line into selfishness? The Coffee Time crew digs into hunting, family, and sacrifice, then takes on EcoGPT, data centers, and whether we’d undo AI, social media, or smartphones. Plus Judd’s two missed bucks and a classic debate: solid colors versus camo in the deer woods.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Pierce Nelles, Hoksey Native Seeds’ new marketing manager and a Driftless fly fishing guide, joins the crew to talk trout. Why cold water matters, how a prairie stretch ran three degrees cooler than pasture, Iowa stocking, spawning seasons, and what hunters and anglers really think about conservation right now.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Kent tells the story of the cleanest kill of his life, a muzzleloader buck stalked through standing corn on the wind. Then Nicolas runs through 17 little-known programs that help beginning and small farmers get started, from savings matches and apprenticeships to cost shares, and why marketing matters for farmers.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more) 1. PFI Savings Incentive Program: https://practicalfarmers.org/programs/savings-incentive-program/ 2. PFI Labor4Learning: https://practicalfarmers.org/programs/labor4learning/ 3. PFI Cost-Shares:    Grazing Infrastructure: https://practicalfarmers.org/programs/grazing-infrastructure-cost-share/    Extended Rotations: https://practicalfarmers.org/programs/cost-share-for-extended-rotations/    Produce Safety: https://practicalfarmers.org/programs/produce-safety-cost-share/ 4. Land Stewardship Project Farm Beginnings: https://landstewardshipproject.org/farmbeginnings/ 5. Minnesota Down Payment Assistance Grant: https://www.mda.state.mn.us/downpayment 6. Nebraska NextGen Beginning Farmer Tax Credit: https://nextgen.nebraska.gov 7. Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship: https://www.dga-national.org/programs/dairy-grazing-apprenticeship 8. North Central SARE Farmer Rancher Grant: https://northcentral.sare.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/farmer-rancher-grant/ 9. Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund: https://farmvetco.org/fvfellowship/ 10. American Farmland Trust Brighter Future Fund: https://farmland.org/brighterfuture     Farm to Stay (with Airbnb): https://farmland.org/farm-to-stay 11. Organic Farming Research Foundation Farmer-Led Trials: https://ofrf.org/research/farmer-led-research-trials/ 12. Oregon Farm Corps: https://www.oregonfarmcorps.org/apprenticeship 13. California Healthy Soils Program: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oars/healthysoils/ 14. Washington Sustainable Farms and Fields: https://www.scc.wa.gov/sff 15. Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP): https://www.tn.gov/taep.html 16. Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund: https://www.kyagr.com/agpolicy 17. NC AgVentures Farm Grant: https://agventures.ces.ncsu.edu/application-for-ag-ventures-grant

Tommy Hexter bought a tiny local food market at 20 and grew it to nearly seventy Iowa producers. We talk food hubs, pay-what-you-can groceries, why Walmart can’t tell you where your eggs came from, running for the statehouse at 24, and why Iowa’s soil should make it America’s food capital.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Harvest has the Hoksey crew running on fumes and fighting old combines, so naturally we’re talking tractors. Nicolas, Kent, and Judd dig into how John Deere, Case IH, Allis-Chalmers, Oliver, and Ford got where they are, why farmers stay loyal to one color, and what right to repair means today.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Iowa DNR state deer biologist Jace Elliott sits down with Nicolas and Kent to talk about the new trail camera ban on public land, drones for deer recovery, nonresident tags, crossbows, and chronic wasting disease, including surprising new data on genetic resistance that has even the experts rethinking a few things.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

Harvest is here and the crew is running on fumes. Nicolas, Kent, Riley, and Judd talk through a stacked week of native seed harvest, then dig into the science of sound: how traffic noise steals sleep and health, and why birdsong, running water, and prairie soundscapes actually lower your stress.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Realtor and CRP planter Steve Hansen joins Nicolas and Kent to test a new Friday format: a rolodex of topics. They cover Iowa's public land trail camera ban, drones in hunting, the 2016 pollinator CRP boom, 44% of Iowa CRP expiring in 2027, farmland values, and whether elk could return.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Coffee Time Wednesday with Kent and Riley. We dig into the National Cover Crop Survey: who's planting covers, what it costs, why so many farmers quit after one year, and whether Iowa can pay its way to cleaner water. Plus a combine door that tried to end harvest.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Kent Boucher turns the mic on Nicolas Lirio for a look back at Hoksey Native Seeds' first year after Carroll. They cover an auction gone sideways, a lost recording, stubborn spiderwort, and big wins like Judd and backyard prairies, plus native pasture, faith, and why the Prairie Farm Forum matters.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Fire may be the cheapest pest control tool on the prairie. Nicolas, Kent, and Riley break down research showing burned pastures cut horn flies on cattle by 41% and slash tick counts. Then they honor conservation legend Wendell Berry and ask what it takes to keep young people on the land.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more) Alex's Youtube Channel (Churched Up Garage)

Barons author Austin Frerick joins Nicolas and Kent to unpack why American butter turned white, how JBS and Cargill captured the food system, what a chicken contract actually costs the farmer who signs it, and how ethanol quietly erased the pastures Iowa used to graze. Plus Costco, Sysco, and GLP-1s.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Riley takes the host chair for a Prairie Farm Podcast trivia showdown. Nicolas and Kent face 20 questions pulled from past guest episodes, covering prairie food plants, planting dates, grazing, Iowa water quality, and the Black Hawk War.  Can you beat Nicolas and Kent's score?

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Iowa State agronomy professor Dr. Brian Hornbuckle joins Nicolas and Kent to talk weather, water, and the Iowa landscape. We get into corn sweat, why rain is coming in bigger chunks, how trading prairie for row crops changed our summers, and a NASA satellite that might spot thirsty plants early.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

Nicolas and Riley dig into milkweed banned in the EU, broomsedge, ragweed's 7.4 billion euro allergy bill, and the 2016 Palmer amaranth scare. Plus bare soil temperatures, cooler trout streams below prairie, and a mix built to bust clay.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Sarah Starman of Friends of the Earth joins Nicolas and Kent to break down pesticide tort immunity: who is lobbying for it, how the EPA got captured, and why only 1.4% of likely-carcinogen pesticides carry a cancer warning. Then forever chemicals, sewage sludge, and one condemned Michigan farm.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Nicolas is back from three weeks off, and the crew digs into solar on farmland: how many acres each Midwest state would need, whether panels wreck the soil, and the hard question nobody asks. What grows under them? Plus a wild bison versus fighting bull story you have to hear.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Join Nicolas and Kent as they sit down with Robert Poppe, Vice President of Marion County Bank. Robert unpacks the realities of ag lending, the true cost of farm consolidation, and how debt can either cripple or propel an operation. It's a candid look at the finances behind the farm.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Another NicoLESS coffee time and we are talking bovines and the state fair with our friend and fellow farmer Aaron Van Wyk.

Hoksey Native Seeds

McKay Insurance 

Join Nicolas and Kent as they visit Diversity Farms owner Jon Judson, a veteran Iowa prairie reconstructionist. From local seed genetics and tough site preparation to interseeding, prescribed fire, weed management, and grazing, Jon shares practical guidance for building diverse native prairie communities that can truly thrive for decades ahead.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

We are joined by the talented Alex Hoksbergen this week for Coffee Time Wednesday. Enjoy!

Hoksey Native Seeds

Iowa Cover Crop

Iowa auditor and gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand joins the Prairie Farm Podcast to talk clean water, cancer, and conservation. He lays out a plan for the biggest prairie pothole and wetland restoration Iowa has ever seen, defends public land and hunting heritage, and makes the case for working across the aisle.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Coffee Time Wednesday is back. Nicolas, Kent, and Riley debate which famous conservationist they'd most want as a friend, why the Farm Bill stalled over SNAP, and whether ethanol actually pays off. Along the way: a post-ethanol Iowa, corn versus solar, and what makes a prairie look truly healthy.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Retired water scientist Chris Jones (author of The Swine Republic and now Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture) joins Kent and Nicolas to talk nitrate, tile, and crop dusting. His pitch for Iowa transition a million corn acres to pasture, oats, prairie, and pollinator habitat, and finally treat clean water as a right.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Coffee Time Wednesday takes on the world on fire in August 2026, from Oregon's largest wildfire ever to France's biggest evacuations since World War Two. Kent, Nick, and Riley dig into fire suppression, invasive fuel loads, lost grazers, and why some landscapes are becoming unlivable. Also... broccoli for breakfast.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Join us as we welcome Zach Lahn back to the Prairie Farm Podcast. We dive into Iowa's rich history, the urgent need to address water quality and cancer rates, and practical incentives for regenerative agriculture. Zach shares his vision for keeping young Iowans home and revitalizing our public schools.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Join Nicolas, Riley, and special guest Nick Moats as they dive into the realities of farm insurance, food supply chains, and the value of sitting still in a deer stand. Plus, the guys discuss late-summer prairie blooms and announce an extremely limited release of hand-harvested wild strawberry seeds.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Peter Byck, director of Carbon Nation and Rooted So Deep, joins The Prairie Farm Podcast to discuss the massive benefits of AMP grazing. We explore how regenerative practices build soil health, boost farm profitability, bring back wildlife, and why huge corporations are funding independent science to secure resilient food supply chains.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Join Nicolas, Kent, and guest Aaron Van Wyk for Coffee Time Wednesday as they dive into the environmental impact of massive wildfires and the looming Colorado River drought. They explore the delicate balance between human infrastructure and nature’s limits, questioning how society adapts to extreme environmental challenges.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

Join Nicolas and Riley as they sit down with Ruth McCabe, Conservation Manager at Heartland Cooperative. They dive into the realities of agricultural conservation, why certain practices work in other countries but struggle in Iowa, the balance of economics and environment, and why there’s no single scapegoat for water quality.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

iowacovercrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, waterway mixes, forage mixes, small grains, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

Join Nicolas, Kent, and Riley on this Coffee Time Wednesday as they discuss the hidden impact of agricultural chemical drift on native oaks. The guys also explore the massive surge in native plant popularity and why people are choosing prairies over lawns.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Kevin Kincaid, CEO of Knoxville Hospital and Clinics, joins Nicolas and Kent. Kevin shares about his time serving on a nuclear submarine during the Cold War and dives deep into the complexities of rural healthcare, hospital funding, and the future of medicine in America.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more) IowaCoverCrop.com (for all your cover crop mixes, small grain mixes, and more)

Join the Prairie Farm Podcast crew on a road trip as we dive into the origins and natural predators of invasive prairie weeds. Smooth Brome, Sericea Lespedeza, Canada Thistle, Queen Anne’s Lace, and Wild Parsnip, and discover what keeps these prolific plants at bay in their native ranges. hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, backyard prairie, hunting mixes, CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your financial planning and insurance needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and dog hunting supplies)

Join Nicolas and Kent as they sit down with Elizabeth and Loren Steele from Hamilton Native Outpost. They discuss the incredible nutritional benefits of prairie-raised beef, managing native grazing systems, and why diverse plant communities build healthier livestock and landscapes.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP mixes, native pasture mixes, native seed, backyard prairie, and more)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and all your bird dog supplies)

Join Nicolas, Kent, and Riley for this week's Coffee Time as they dive into the latest Farm Bill updates, extending CRP through 2031, and exciting new cost-share opportunities for prairie burning and grazing. Plus, the guys discuss America’s billion-dollar littering problem and what it costs the USA. hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, CRP mixes, hunting habitat mixes, pollinator mixes, native pasture mixes and more) IowaCoverCrop.com (for all your cover crop, water mixes, and more) MckayInsAgency.com (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

Join Kent and Nicolas as they welcome Travis Hall, Associate Editor of Field & Stream, to discuss public land advocacy, the roadless rule, and why protecting our wild spaces requires active participation from hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, CRP mixes, backyard prairie, pollinator mixes, and hunting habitat)

Skip Sligh returns to The Prairie Farm Podcast to discuss the harsh realities of modern land stewardship. From the challenge of hunting mature whitetails to combating the rise in rural poaching and managing vulnerable acreage, Skip offers an honest, grounded look at what it takes to protect Iowa’s native habitats.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, CRP, hunting habitat, pollinator mixes, and more)

McKayInsAgency.com (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and bird dog supplies)

Join Nicolas and Kent for another Coffee Time Wednesday! This week, they share their harrowing adventures with old farm equipment, the realities of harvesting native seeds, and dive into a deep discussion on the changing economics of dairy farming and agricultural labor. Grab your coffee and tune in! hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed, CRP, hunting habitat, backyard prairie, and more) IowaCoverCrop.com (for all your cover crop, forage mixes, waterway mixes, and more)

Join us as Dr. Larry Weber from the University of Iowa discusses the critical intersection of water quality and public health. We explore off-grid living, the importance of native prairie in conservation, and the growing nitrate crisis in Iowa’s waterways. Discover how informed communities can protect our shared water resources.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your native seed needs including CRP, native pasture, backyard prairie, pollinator mixes, and more)

Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop mixes, water way mixes, small grains, and more)

McKay Insurance (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

We answer the following prairie questions in the second half of our FAQ miniseries.

8. What is the best way to broadcast both large and small seeds evenly?

9. What is the role of prescribed burning in long-term prairie maintenance?

10. Will the native plants spread and fill in over time?

11. What do I do about reed’s canary grass?

12. What do I do about Canada Thistle?

13. What do I do about brushy encroachment?

14. What do I do about Brome in my prairie?

15. What do I do about Big Bluestem that is taking over?

16. Can I interseed flowers back into my prairie?

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP, Backyard Prairie, Warm Season Pasture Mixes, Hunting Habitat, Buffer Strips, and more!)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting gear, and your bird dog's gear)

Matt Hatala of Prairie Rose Farms shares his unlikely path from adoption and military service to raising pasture pork in Iowa. He discusses regenerative hog production, farm marketing, local food systems, water quality, animal welfare, and why rebuilding agriculture requires courage, transparency, and healthier relationships with land, community, and risk.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP, Pasture Mixes, Habitat Mixes, Native Seed, and more)

Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop mixes, forage mixes, small grain mixes)

In this Coffee Time episode, Nicolas, Kent, and Riley debate whether the Midwest really feeds the world, dig into commodity calories, exports, food security, environmental tradeoffs, and what prairie, local food, grazing, and conservation minded choices might mean for Iowa’s future.

Hoksey Native Seeds (for all your native seed needs: CRP, backyard pollinator, habitat, native pasture, and more)

MckayInsAgency.com (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

BirdHuntingSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and bird dog supplies)

Hal Herring joins The Prairie Farm Podcast to unpack American Prairie, grazing permits, public lands, ranching culture, and the hard history behind conservation in the West.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP, backyard prairie, Hunting Habitat, native grazing mixes, and more!) BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supplies and bird dog supplies)

In part 1 of our FAQ mini series, we answer the following questions.

1. How long does it take for a prairie planting to become established? 2. How do I prepare the site for planting? 3. Is tilling or breaking up the soil recommended before planting? 4. When is the best time of year to sow native prairie seeds? 5. How do I handle maintenance (mowing) in the first year?  6. How high should I mow in the first two years, and when should I stop? 7. Should I water or fertilize my newly planted prairie?

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP, backyard prairie, native wildflowers and grasses, hunting habitat, and more)

Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop, waterway mixes, small grains, and more)

McKay Insurance (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

Andrew Di Alessandro of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joins the Prairie Farm Podcast to discuss Neil Smith Refuge, prairie restoration, prescribed fire, bison and elk grazing, private lands conservation, funding challenges, and how landowners can connect money, recreation and legacy to meaningful habitat work across Iowa and Illinois.

Hoksey Native Seeds (for all your CRP, Backyard Prairie, Native Pasture, Hunting Mixes, and more)

McKay Insurance (for all your insurance and financial planning needs)

BirdHunterSupply.com (for all your bird hunting supply needs, and all your bird dog supply needs)

On this Coffee Time episode, Nicolas and Kent crack into the global nut industry (forgive the pun), from California almonds and pistachios to pecans, cashews, and peanuts. They talk water use, pollination, pricing, supply chains, and why legumes might matter more in native prairie establishment than we usually give them credit for here.

hokseynativeseeds.com (for all your CRP mixes, backyard prairie mixes, hunting mixes, and more)

Iowa Cover Crop (for all your cover crop and small grain and cool season forage needs)

Another of Doug Duren's quarterly episodes where we have a wide ranging conversation on turkey habitat, savanna restoration, Aldo Leopold, chainsaw stories, and native landscapes. The crew digs into why habitat is the answer, why native plants matter, and how restoring prairie brings back birds, bugs, and the wildness we need.