Emily Oakley: Growing Fertility On The Farm

#104: Real Organic farmer and former NOSB memberEmily Oakley shares her thoughts on tillage, the regenerative  movement, and transforming her farming practices with hopes of replacing off-farm inputs with homegrown fertility.

Emily Oakley owns and operate Three Springs Farm with her husband Mike Appel outside of  Tulsa, OK. She served on the National Organic Standards Board from 2016 - 2021 and is a current member of the Real Organic Project's Advisory Board. Emily received a Masters in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis.

You can learn more about Real Organic Project-certified Three Springs Farm here:
http://threespringsfarm.com/about-us

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/emily-oakley-growing-fertility-on-farm-episode-one-hundred-four

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/farms

We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

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