145: Nothing Is Cookie Cutter with NRCS

Chris Joe is an NRCS District Conservationist and a landowner in Alabama. He is a Fourth-Generation African American landowner and he raises cattle on his land. However, through tapping into the NRCS resources, he's found out how to maximize his land by providing bird and nature tours! The NRCS has a wide range of resources that not many people are aware of and on today's episode, Chris shares some of these amazing and fantastic resources today.

Key Takeaways:

[1:35] A message from Leadership Nature.

[2:20] A quick intro about Chris's background.

[4:40] How did Chris get into cattle farming?

[6:35] Chris explains the definition of 'black belt' and how it relates to the soil.

[9:30] What kind of work ethic did Chris learn while working on the farm?

[12:15] Chris shares a bit of his family history.

[15:25] How has Chris been able to diversify his land?

[21:20] NRCS has SO many resources for landowners!

[24:05] Chris has people from all over the states coming to his land to watch birds. He never knew that would be possible without the help of forestry professionals.

[25:55] Chris keeps a journal for his farm. It's helped him tremendously keep track of the history of the farm!

[30:25] What's next for Chris and his farm?

[35:55] Chris shares a bit about his educational journey on how he got into farming and conservation.

[42:40] You don't want to go on to somebody's farm and tell them what they have to change. It will rub them the wrong way. You've gotta do a bit of pre-work first to build trust.

[52:15] The NRCS has a lot of available resources and programs for landowners who might not be able to afford it, too.

[59:15] Chris loves being able to partner with the community and teach them practical lessons on how to efficiently use the land.

[1:03:25] Another resource that the NRCS teaches is about game hunting on your property; what's legal and what's not legal to do.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Website for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: Usendowment.org

More information on the SFLR Program: Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention Program (SFLR)

More information on USDA NRCS: Nrcs.usda.gov

High Tunnel System Initiative

Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours on Twitter