Spudchat podcast a new way to reach busy farmers

There's a lot of work to do on the farm, and a lot to learn about new and innovative ways to grow potatoes, and the P.E.I. Potato Board is hoping a new podcast will help farmers keep up with both.

Spudchat, hosted by Ryan Barrett, research and agronomy specialist at the board, launched on Friday. Barrett said it's just one more way the P.E.I. Potato Board is trying to get farmers the latest research and information they need to be successful.

"People can listen to [it] while they're driving the truck or they're driving the tractor or they're doing chores or something. You can fill that time with this podcast," he said.

Barrett said he's been thinking about the idea for a long time, but he got serious about it this winter, getting the equipment he needed, teaching himself editing skills, and getting a few episodes completed before the launch on Friday.

There's plenty to talk about: pests and diseases, growing practices, soil health and soil organic matter, crop rotations and cover crops. Barrett is also hoping to bring in a wide range of people to help with the podcast, not just local researchers.

"Some farmers in other provinces maybe, [to] give a little perspective of how maybe they do things differently in other places, researchers in other places, industry people," he said.

"I'm hoping to have a nice wide variety of different people be participating in it and giving different perspectives from different places, as well as innovative, interesting things that are being done here in P.E.I."

The podcast is also a great way for anyone to learn more about potato farming, said Barrett.

The podcast is only available in a few places currently, but will soon be found on all the major podcast sources. Barrett said you will always be able to find it on its home page.

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