Organic farming, explained from the field up.
The Organic BC Podcast is a measured interview series on organic food and farming in British Columbia and Canadian growing conditions. Its strongest episodes translate standards reviews, plant science, livestock systems, and soil management into practical questions farmers can test against real operations.
PRESS PLAY
The Organic BC Podcast is a calm, detailed interview series about the work behind organic farming, not just the ideals attached to it. Its episodes often begin with a practical problem. A standard needs updating. A northern grower needs cover crop advice that was not designed for northern seasons. A livestock farmer wants to control woody field-edge encroachment without repeated tillage. A researcher is trying to understand how habitat amendments change insect relationships on farms. From there, the show moves patiently through definitions, constraints, and examples. Jordan Marr's role is less performance than translation, with questions that turn phrases like ecological intensification, biofumigation, silvopasture, and participatory plant breeding into something a producer can weigh. The conversations are especially strong when they connect research to the messy parts of practice. Hedgerows may support biodiversity, but they also occupy land. Bale grazing may suppress rosebush where bales sit, but covering large areas takes time and feed. Silvopasture may improve shade, water quality, biodiversity, and resilience, but only when managed well. Cover cropping north of the 60th parallel demands a different calendar than advice built for farms farther south. The show is also attentive to the institutions around organic production. Its episode on Canada's Organic Standards treats the review process as consumer protection, language clarification, and sector maintenance, not as paperwork for its own sake. Recent episodes draw on soil scientists, plant researchers, ministry specialists, and working farmers. They also return to the tension between organic, regenerative, no-till, livestock, climate resilience, and the economic realities of running farms. The appeal is quiet but substantial. This is agricultural audio for listeners who want careful explanations, grounded examples, and enough detail to understand why a practice works in one place and becomes more complicated in another.
Made for: For farmers, growers, agricultural researchers, policy-minded food listeners, and anyone interested in organic production beyond slogans. It especially suits listeners who like practical detail about soils, standards, crops, livestock, and regional growing conditions.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by treating organic agriculture as a living system of standards, ecology, economics, and farm decisions. It connects research projects and policy processes to specific production questions instead of staying at the level of broad sustainability language.
An educational resource for farmers, gardeners, processors and other members of the organic food & farming community in British Columbia & beyond! Featuring conversations with farmers, eaters, academics, scientists and authors about the philosophy, practice, and politics of organic food. A project of Organic BC, British Columbia's primary organic sector advocate and representative to 700+ certified organic producers and processors in the province for more than 25 years.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · August 2026
Organic farm economics, made practical through interviews on standards, land management, research and production decisions.
The Organic BC Podcast belongs on the Business & Finance shelf, but its angle is production: farm decisions, standards, risk, equipment, certification and land management.
Hedgerows, bale placement, and standards petitions become the evidence you need before picking a farming side.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear look at how organic standards stay practical, legible, and current.
Canada's organic standards are framed as a working system, not just a layer of bureaucracy. The piece treats them as something that must stay high-integrity, stay usable for the people who rely on them, and stay clear even as language shifts.
A clear look at biodiversity, aphids, and how farm habitat amendments may support production goals.
The episode treats on-farm habitat amendments as a practical question: how biodiversity can be supported on the farm and how that might also serve production goals. Jordan Marr gives Dr.
A grounded look at silvopasture as an agroforestry tool for BC working land.
The piece treats silvopasture as a working farm system, not a slogan. Trees, livestock, and forage share the same ground, and the clearest value comes through in the practical gains: canopy shade, water quality, biodiversity, and some help with wildfire and flood risk in a…
A practical look at bale grazing as a long-term way to manage woody encroachment and improve soil.
The episode treats bale grazing as a practical answer to field-edge encroachment from woody perennials such as wild rosebush and willow. Rather than selling it as a cure-all, it follows Rob Larson's trial closely enough to show the uneven outcome: the ground under the bales…
A practical farm conversation that treats sustainability as work, not branding.
The episode makes the practical side of organic livestock feel specific rather than abstract. Jordan Marr follows Steve Meggett and Annalise Group Cabers through cover cropping, the tools and equipment that keep the operation moving, and a plainspoken account of where livestock…
Farm business talk with coffee-shop honesty.
Canada's organic rulebook gets revised every five years.
Jordan Marr sits down with Dr.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode explores cover cropping strategies in northern regions like the Yukon and Alaska, featuring insights from a soil scientist on adapting practices to unique climatic challenges.
This episode explores biofumigation, a biological pest control method using cover crops to suppress weeds, diseases, and pests in soil, featuring an interview with research scientist Tom Forge.
Jordan Marr talks with Lisa Sabeck about silvopasture as a branch of agroforestry.
Jordan Marr looks at bale grazing as a practical alternative to repeated tillage for slowing woody encroachment along field edges.
Jordan Marr opens The Organic BC Podcast part two with Steve Meggett and Annalise Group Cabers of Fresh Valley Farms in Armstrong, BC, a certified organic livestock farm selling grass-fed beef, pastured pork, poultry, and eggs into the Okanagan Valley.
This episode features an interview with Steve and Annelise from Fresh Valley Farms discussing their certified organic livestock operation, focusing on pasture management, marketing strategies, and sustainable practices like rotational grazing and cover cropping.
This episode features an interview with Anna Helmer about her family's organic potato farm in Pemberton, BC, covering farm history, marketing strategies, and seasonal production practices.
This episode features an interview with Reid Alloway about his journey electrifying farm machinery at Tournesol Cooperative Farm, highlighting practical benefits like reduced costs and environmental impact.
This episode features an interview with grazing expert Steve Kenyon discussing winter grazing strategies for cattle and their impact on soil health, applicable to various livestock operations.