Growing Small Grains on a Small Scale

Check out this fascinating, informative and practical episode from Practical Farmers member Chris Blanchard’s Farmer to Farmer podcast. Chris interviews Andrea (Andy) Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm in Illinois. In recent years, Andy has transitioned from growing vegetables to growing 30 acres of specialty field crops. She currently raises, mills and markets everything from heirloom corn to dry beans to ancient small grain varieties like emmer, spelt and einkorn. 

In their conversation, Andy talks about a whole range of topics related to small grains production and beyond:  seed saving and genetic selection; planter settings and crop management; harvest and storage; on-farm milling and packaging; marketing differences between small scale vegetables and small grains; how their family farm has changed over the last 150 years; and the challenges of being a woman in row crop agriculture.

Also, check out the article about Andy in Illinois Farmer Today.

Chris Blanchard of Decorah runs Purple Pitchfork, an educational and outreach organization dedicated to helping farmers and their farm businesses.