Corey Olson grew up in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. During the summer he would move to his family farm in Shelly Minnesota. Over the years Corey and his family would raise everything from cattle and chickens too pigs and turkeys. “If there was an animal in northern Minnesota, you could raise, it was raised at that farm.” Corey recalls his life growing up on the farm and how that impacted his life now as an adult in the Twin Cities. Also elaborating on the farms long over 100 years history, originally starting with his great grandparents. Not only did farming show Corey how to raise animals and live off the land, it showed him how to be a good person and build a community that cares and relies on each other.

Chan Phillips grew up on a feed corn, alfalfa, and soybean farm in south central Iowa. He talks about his childhood growing up with seven siblings on a homestead with his mother Ruth and father Bayard. “A steward of the land” is how Chan remembers Bayard, a hard-working man who was the first to use no-till farming in his area and was the fifth-generation farmer on his family’s land. Chan discusses the recent rise in young farmers and urban gardens across America and the importance of small-scale, local farms.

Julie and Bill Allen started Sörstad Farms, located in Clover Valley, MN, in 2020. Together, the couple restored the homestead and cultivates all types of vegetables in tandem with the Clover Valley Farm Trail. Julie shares the origins of the name Sörstad, her history with farming and the importance of soil health.

Check out Sörstad Farms’ Instagram and website.

Local farms are integral to a community’s physical, emotional, and social health. Support local farms by sharing their stories, checking out their websites, and investing in their CSAs.

The first episode of Cultivating Change: Farmers Share Their Stories podcast is meant to be a field guide for what the rest of the episodes will discuss

• media representation of farmers
• impact of farmers on American culture and economy
• the vast array of farmers present at the Marbleseed conference and beyond

Your podcast’s hosts Pearl Phillips and Caleb Olson also discussed their connections with the farming community and why this story is so important to them.

Pearl’s grandfather, Bayard Phillips, was a soybean, feed corn and alfalfa farmer in central Iowa. Pearl talks about some of the memories she had at the farm and how this project connects her to him.

This is Corey Olson’s Farm located in Shelly Minnesota. The generational farm has been holding cattle, soybeans, wheat, corn and many more crops throughout it’s lifetime.