Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Conservation, Development, and Use of Agricultural Resources for the Betterment of Native Farmers with Kelsey Scott and Kari Jo Lawrence of the Intertribal Agriculture Council
150 Plays4 years ago
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we're thrilled to host Kelsey Scott and Kari Jo Lawrence of the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC). Listen as Kelsey and Kari Jo discuss the programs and resources IAC offers its members, along with their own journeys and roles within the IAC.
Show Notes:
https://www.indianag.org/
https://www.barn2door.com/resources
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Direct Farm Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Direct Farm podcast, the weekly listen for farm selling direct. We'll talk about the four levers for farm success, which are quality, brand, price, and convenience. We'll hear from outside industry experts and producers like you to delight your customers, save time, and to increase your direct farm sales and business. We're glad you're here.
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome to the Direct Farm Podcast.
Focus on Intertribal Agriculture Council
00:00:27
Speaker
We've got a great conversation for you today with the Intertribal Agriculture Council, or IAC, an organization pursuing and promoting the conservation, development, and use of agricultural resources for Native American and Alaskan tribes. I am delighted to welcome Carrie Jo Lawrence, the executive director of IAC, and Kelsey Scott, the director of programs at IAC and a Barnstador farm advisor.
00:00:49
Speaker
Welcome Kelsey and Carrie. To start, could you both share a little bit about your individual backgrounds?
Meet the Guests: Carrie Jo Lawrence and Kelsey Scott
00:00:55
Speaker
My name is Kelsey Scott. I am a beef cattle producer here in the North Central Great Plains on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. My husband and myself are very involved in both of our family's operations. I'm also the owner of DX Beef, which is a direct-to-consumer grass-fed beef marketing
00:01:14
Speaker
option for our businesses. And I get to fulfill the role of being the director of programs at the Intertribal Agriculture Council. I really feel that my professional job is where I get to really talk the talk, promoting transition to regenerative practices or exploring ways to have a more sound business plan. And then my on the farm job is really where I get to actually walk that walk.
00:01:40
Speaker
and make sure that I'm doing what the farmers and ranchers I'm providing technical guidance to are being advised they should do as well. And I really get to put myself in their shoes, not only be the boots on the ground, but help other boots on the ground, so to speak.
00:01:56
Speaker
I'm Carrie Jill Lawrence, and I'm the executive director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council. I'm originally from North Dakota. I was born on the Mandan Hidatsia-Rikaran Nation and raised in the Hidatsa culture. And my family, our ranchers still are. We're cow-calf producers, and I'm lucky enough to still be living that life now with my husband and son. We are located now on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, where we reside by the now-amoral river.
00:02:22
Speaker
I went to school in North Dakota at Dickinson State University, and I actually came through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. I was there for 20 years after I got out of college and then before I came on with the Intertribulate Council. So I have a programs background and the farm ranch background, and I'm happy to be living this life connected to farming and ranching. Carrie, could you start out by giving us a little bit of the history of IAC and maybe when the organization was founded?
IAC's Mission and Evolution
00:02:49
Speaker
Absolutely. The Inter-Tribal Aid Council is probably the oldest and definitely leading inter-tribal organizations devoted to providing education, advocacy, and technical assistance to Native American farmers and ranchers throughout the United States. It was founded in 1987 and it was formed off the heels of a farm crisis that was happening at that time. And our mission is to promote the conservation, development, and use of agricultural resources for the betterment of Native people.
00:03:18
Speaker
Could you make me talk about how that mission and the organization overall has evolved over the years and how you've accomplished that mission over your time? Absolutely. The IECs work tirelessly on behalf of individual Indian egg producers and travel enterprises alike. IEC works with tribal governments, tribal members from all geographic regions of the country. And then our board of directors is made up from representatives from those tribal governments.
00:03:43
Speaker
So they have deep connections with the Indian farmers and ranchers in those respective regions. I feel that's what makes us very unique and it really has helped us to raise our voices in that advocacy world because we are so connected with our membership and it's evolved through the years through our membership with their leadership. How did you first find out about IAC and then what kind of led you to want to take that next step and join and be a contributing member?
00:04:10
Speaker
One of my colleagues here, Johnson Reyes, who is the director of the Technical Assistance Network that we have across the country, he recently pointed out to me that I am technically third generation IAC. I don't really think there was much of a choice for me.
00:04:25
Speaker
It's genetic. No, my grandfather was actually on the initial committee that guided the establishment of the IEC. And then my father started working for the Intertribal Ag Council. He tells the story that it was the spring of 94 and he had a baby girl and she needed diapers and food. And that's me.
00:04:46
Speaker
And he was looking for employment to supplement his on-farm income that was a on-farm investment and didn't have very much return at all. And he found in the Indian AgLink, which was a national newsletter that the IAC used to send out to communicate with farmers and ranchers back before social media, a ad that said seeking farm bill advocates
00:05:11
Speaker
And so he gave the executive director back then Greg Smitman a call and they were able to meet up face to face for an interview a week or two later. And he got hired to work 20 hours a week, really helping producers that were being far closed on all the way up to getting started in agriculture, the whole gamut of things, helping them get their goal and helping to provide the technical support through whatever was in front of them.
00:05:37
Speaker
And so the unique thing about this story is I did not realize until I was in high school that my dad had an off-farm income and had been affiliated with the Intertribal Agriculture Council. So I guess that goes to show how good he is at being a present father. He had never distracted from our ability to go out and ranch. And now I know why he had late nights working on the computer, right? But he ended up
00:05:59
Speaker
taking me to the annual conference in 2009. And I remember being exposed to such a diverse, passionate, stubborn, strong willed group of people. And it was like one of those watershed moments where I was like, I don't know what I want to do yet with my career, but I wanted to be with these people.
00:06:21
Speaker
This feels like home. And so I started taking the steps in my undergrad career to look into careers that might overlap with the IAC's work. Back then, there was really still only five or six employees hired by the organization. So that was fairly slim, but I knew that somehow I could get involved, whether that be working with NRCS and overlap into the work of IAC or something like that.
00:06:44
Speaker
Eventually, when I graduated, I convinced IAC to allow me the chance to serve as their Youth Programs Coordinator. And I started with coordinating youth leadership development opportunities across the country. And that was really when I got to meet Carrie Jo. We were planning for an in-person conference in Las Vegas, and we wanted to highlight what a career in natural resource looked like. And so we drove up to the county office and we interviewed Carrie Jo back when she was still with NRCS.
Roles and Impact at IAC
00:07:12
Speaker
That's how I got to where I am working full time with the organization. I've been able to fulfill a variety of positions so far and every one of them has taught me so much. I'm just so thankful for the chance to be able to work with the dynamite crew representing the producers all across the country. Carrie, how about you? We're glad you to get involved in that AC.
00:07:31
Speaker
1994, I was not in diapers. I was about to graduate from high school and trying to decide what I wanted to do for a living. So I wanted to remain in agriculture, but at the same time seeing the struggles that were happening in agriculture where I figured I need to get a job. I was looking into NRCS. I was always interested in that because I would go to the office with my dad and
00:07:53
Speaker
The people are always cool and it's fun. And at that same time, back in the nineties, my dad was receiving the IAC newsletter and I would read it. It was just talking about what was happening in the country with agriculture and related to what's going on in Indian country. So I was always reading that. And I saw the opportunity to write an essay and apply for a scholarship.
00:08:15
Speaker
So that's why I got involved with IAC. I was one of the first scholarship recipients. So I was lucky enough. I went through my career within our CS, but I was always attached to my AC. I knew what they had to offer and producers go their way. I would call in for assistance. They were always helping to spread the word about what's going on at USDA. So they were just a helpful crew. And when the opportunity came about, it feels like I just went home to do what I meant to do work with IAC and to continue the work that's been going on since 1987.
00:08:45
Speaker
Kelsey, could you tell me a little bit about what your specific role at the Intertribal Ag Council is? So now I get to fulfill the role of director of programs and Carrie Jo was actually our first formal director of programs at the IAC. So I feel like my responsibility is not messing up all the good that she started and continuing to carry it forward.
00:09:06
Speaker
I like to practice what I reach in every capacity. And I'm a really big believer in the importance of regenerative and reasonably agricultural practices. And so really how I see my role within the organization is it's looking at our programs and how they work together and how the organization is functioning through that regenerative mindset and trying to deploy that philosophy of creating the necessary disturbance of nature, but then
00:09:35
Speaker
following the disturbance for a more robust and more resilient production cycle and then preparing for the disturbance that's gonna again happen. So for a lot of what it is that we see across our programs is it's the production cycle and from one year to the next we might have the wettest season on record to the driest season on record. Our goals as an organization, whether it be in our American Indian Boots program or in our Technical Assistance Network, they
00:10:00
Speaker
all relate in that we want to help our producers help the land in a way that will keep their family on it and will help to feed their food system, their community, and hopefully rebuild a more localized food system. And, you know, it would be great if they didn't have to do that on the evenings and weekends and they could actually afford to be a full-time food sovereignty advocate and producer feeding their communities.
00:10:23
Speaker
So we try to always figure out how to support our staff in a way that they can support those producers. But then my role, I feel it goes both ways. I'm not only relaying resources to the staff to get out to the producers on the ground, but I'm listening to the staff of the programs.
00:10:39
Speaker
and I am hearing what they're saying, whether it's they need additional support or if there's an issue in a particular USDA policy that's being administered out there on the ground. I take it upon myself to coordinate with our administrative team to try to address that and to ensure that communication goes both directions. It's said that there's not enough people making the decisions in DC that have bullcrap on the outside of their boots too, right? So we're in the space of making sure there is a very active
00:11:09
Speaker
Indian Ag voice over there in DC advocating for the necessary appreciation for what our producers and their ancestors did for this landscape of ecosystem. Carrie, could you touch on your current role at Intertribal Ag Council?
00:11:25
Speaker
My role is really around the strategic planning and I feel like putting puzzle pieces together so that we could have an impact nationwide. And of course that comes with making sure our staff is on the same wavelength as we are all remote throughout the whole entire country. So just keeping those puzzle pieces working towards the goals of our membership. And it's challenging, but so amazing when we see things come together.
00:11:50
Speaker
It feels like we're all working towards the same goals. We want to produce good food for all people and seeing those goals come together is super amazing. So yeah, playing a chess game and keeping the team rolling in and supported definitely main parts of my job. Kelsey, could you maybe talk about some of the resources that IAC offers members and about how those programs have evolved over the years?
Support and Services by IAC
00:12:12
Speaker
I think that one of the things that actually drew me to working with Barn Kickdoor is how they have what we have here at the IAC in the form of direct human to human technical assistance support. When I was able to
00:12:27
Speaker
to get set up with an onboard manager for my account at Barnetador. And they worked with me weekly and helped me accountable in pursuing my own goals. I was on the receiving end of the technical assistance support that our organization provides producers and tribal entities and tribal departments day in and day out.
00:12:46
Speaker
And I think that skilled level of expertise that is willing to be shared across the table or virtually is something that you just truly can't quantify the real impact that that has because it's so personalized and empowering to that individual producer. Here I am now as one of the biggest advocates for Barn to Door, like I'm always directing people to it, whether they have food to sell or not. And I just have to feel that that's what our producers do as well.
00:13:14
Speaker
after a couple of technical assistance sessions with us here at the IAC, is they feel empowered to go out there and to relay this information to their neighbors or to their family to make sure that they're accessing opportunities as well. So it really has an exponential impact. We provide technical assistance in a couple of different capacities though. One of them is from like a business standpoint of getting a true assessment. Okay, what does your balance sheet look like?
00:13:38
Speaker
What are your operations ins and outs for cashflow? And is there a way to better restructure some of this debt in a way that better aligns with the production system that you actually have envisioned for yourself? Too often in the agricultural industry, there's just this like it copy and paste that gets
00:13:57
Speaker
practice when it comes to the financial structure that farmers and ranchers are phased into. And so we get to really pull that apart and figure out, okay, well, yeah, this termed out debt in this capacity might work for a producer that is in a corn, soybean, biodiverse, cover crop rotational system, but it's not going to work for the cow calf producer. And we need to help educate that producer as to why, and then most often fold in their lender and help their lender to understand why they're sitting there or how they're sitting their producer up for
00:14:27
Speaker
failure. We also offer assistance in conservation planning and regenerative ag transition plans for producers that feel financially secure enough to be able to really invest more rigorously into their conservation infrastructure. And then we have technical assistance that is provided through the marketing aspect of our programs in our American Indian food program, which I
00:14:51
Speaker
helps producers that have a shelf-stable product understand what the export or domestic trade opportunities are for their product, what the consumer is looking for, how to structure your business in a way that is conducive to that level of large-scale sales, and how to identify the appropriate niche market price for your product, and then have that generate an even more regenerative impact within your local community.
00:15:15
Speaker
We also across all of those mission areas focus on the policies that are either uplifting our producers and reaching those goals or sometimes hindering them towards those goals, as well as making sure that there's a young upcoming generation of young professionals that are
00:15:34
Speaker
skilled, they talk about it in the ag industry as hybrid vigor, right? Like the next generation is always better than the last because of the way that we're infusing, whether it's better genetics or better feed or exposing them to a more robust soil health. That's what we want to do with our youth is figure out how to equip them with the skills that they need to carry the Indian ag industry further ahead at a younger age so that we can reach our ultimate goal of being food sovereign.
00:16:00
Speaker
A lot of times the challenges that farmers are facing are very specific and unique to them. So that's great to hear that you guys have been able to provide programs and resources that can help them through those unique challenges. I think farmers always appreciate the one-on-one help. That's certainly something that we've found as well. Are there any new programs or resources that you've looked at adding in the last year or might be trying to add in the near future?
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah, there are a few. One that we recently built out is really the establishment of our policy and government relations department. So we now have an associate director of policy and government relations. And she has been a phenomenal asset to the team in simply having her mind thinking in the direction of policy nonstop.
00:16:44
Speaker
It is a total different way of thinking than providing that one-on-one technical assistance support. So we really need and rely upon her to have her ear to the ground on what's happening over there in DC and what's making its way through the channels and making sure that she's helping to inform how policy is interpreted and implemented so that it maintains the truest intent of actually reaching Indian country as well.
00:17:09
Speaker
So often between the passing of legislation all the way down to the administration of programs, the true intent of the program and the policy is lost before it reaches our producers. And we want to just try to maintain the integrity of that throughout every step of the process.
00:17:24
Speaker
We also are continuing to build out our regenerative ag efforts and thinking about it more on like a community scale.
Building a Regenerative Economy
00:17:32
Speaker
So like a regenerative economy, a regenerative community programming. That's really young in the works, but it would only formalize the work that we're already doing with our natural resources department, as well as with our technical assistance network and all of the regenerating economy expertise we provide there.
00:17:50
Speaker
And we are able to focus specifically on more of our domestic marketing opportunities to share with our producers that had capitalized on the export opportunities for getting their product shipped worldwide to capitalize on those niche market prices. When COVID happened and we weren't able to travel to world food shows anymore and even worldwide trades started to slow down.
00:18:14
Speaker
We had to think strategically about how to help those businesses pivot so that they still had the same generated demand for product on a domestic scale. And what we're seeing is actually a lot of producers interested in diversifying where their product is going now so that there isn't a reliance upon international trade in order to be able to make it happen.
00:18:33
Speaker
happen and to help hopefully change some of the dialogue here in America about the importance of knowing where your food comes from, buying indigenous, buying local as much as you can, and buying product that is being produced in a regenerative way. So Kelsey, IAC runs a diverse range of programs. You've already touched on a few of them, but one of those programs focuses on market development. What is the primary focus of that program and what are some of the major accomplishments or conclusions that you guys have resulted in out of that program?
00:19:03
Speaker
Well, one of the accomplishments is that we have an established partnership between our American Indian Foods program and Barn to Door. And that is helping us to amplify for our producers that are carrying the made and produced by American Indians trademark, their online market space. It's helping them to build out all more robust online purchasing option and the feedback that we're able to provide to Barn to Door and the responsiveness that Barn to Door offers us in accepting that feedback.
00:19:32
Speaker
in building it into their online platform has been really tremendous to make sure that our producers that we're connecting with Bartador are able to actually best market their product. We have some very significant accomplishments, but for me, being the soil nerd that I am, one of the most significant accomplishments that I think we have made through our market development programming in 2021 is the establishment of our regeneration pledge.
00:19:58
Speaker
And our regeneration pledge is just that it is a commitment by our farmers and ranchers, our food producers to the consumer saying, I will in every context possible, produce this product for you in a way that is regenerative of the nation that we exist within through the economy and the people, but also the ecosystem.
00:20:22
Speaker
and appreciating that we share this ecosystem with other species, that we need to work as harmoniously with the land as possible. And that is our producer's pledge to their consumers. And I think that that's really empowering rather than having a certification or a producer that's beholden to certain restrictions. Instead, they get to make the commitment. It empowers them to really change and lead that narrative and
00:20:48
Speaker
I hope to see other market opportunities start to follow suit with what Latasha and Tommy over at our American Indian Foods program did in the build out and design of our regeneration pledge. On your guys' website, you have a complete brochure on some of the success stories of IAC and its members and some of the accomplishments that you guys have done over the years. Could you maybe share a particular success story that comes to mind that you feel particularly exemplifies IAC's mission in action?
00:21:15
Speaker
We had a particular case where we provided technical assistance for financial planning and for conservation planning. And this producer, we were able to connect him with one of the native CDFIs that we work with. And he was able to secure the patient capital through our regenerative finance model. It provides them a chance to.
00:21:36
Speaker
build their equity while being able to do other things in their business. So seeing that deployed and on goal where he was able to afford to implement some of the regenerative grazing practices on his ranch and the new system it not only improved his grassland resource but it really set him up for an improved bottom line due to the less inputs.
00:21:56
Speaker
So, you know, sometimes less is more in these situations, but people are afraid to try what maybe be construed as a new practice. But once he was able to implement that, to me, that truly the meaning of healthy food when it's produced in a healthy way, and it's giving back to the resource, that is to me a true definition of healthy food. Kelsey, do you have any success stories that come to mind that you think display the mission of IAC?
Success Stories and Initiatives
00:22:21
Speaker
One that always stands out for me is I got to serve as a technical assistant supporting a young lady by the name of Jessa in pursuing a farm service agency youth loan. She got her loan. It was a less than typical loan. In fact, that she didn't want to just buy cows that
00:22:39
Speaker
We're going to have a calf. She wanted to buy five head of heifer calves and she wanted to develop them. She wanted them to come from her dad's herd. And that was going to require one year's time of growth before they would even be able to breed. So those five animals wouldn't generate an income.
00:22:56
Speaker
So it took us a little while to get this application through the Farm Service Agency $5,000 youth loan application process, but we were able to get it done. And throughout that process, it just was really empowering to see her take ownership in her plan and to decide that, no, this is what I want to do. And to not be persuaded by what was being offered to her instead, but to stick to her guns and to remain competent and reflect back on her goals as to why she wants to do
00:23:24
Speaker
this way and after we got her lawn approved she was able to pick out her five heifer calves from her dad and I think her dad really appreciated being able to utilize her help all winter feeding heifers and that next spring we were at a branding together and one of the neighbors was teasing her and poking fun at her tickling her and they were going back and forth non-stop and like she would be throwing a old
00:23:50
Speaker
petrified turded him and the next thing you know he would throw him back and anyway at one point throughout the day he told her why don't you go pick on her instead and point it at me and Jessa looked to him square in the eye and she said no that's my FSA youth loan advisor and I'm not gonna pick on her and it made me feel so proud of the relationship I was able to build with her and it made me happy to know that she was the youngest producer she actually had a balance sheet at 13 years old
00:24:19
Speaker
And she was in amongst these 50 to 45 year old men and women that were ranched. And she felt just as empowered to say, no, I'm a producer too. And I can decide, I could think for myself. And so that's one story that always sticks out to me. It's a little abnormal. And I hope that it was as meaningful for her. And I hope that she can reflect on it down the road as well.
00:24:42
Speaker
That's a great story to hear. It's something I think Barnador definitely aligns himself with too, is we just launched our student program for those young producers that are looking to get into the farming game and start out young. Kelsey, so Barnador was delighted to sponsor the IAC annual conference last
Upcoming Events and Future Plans
00:24:58
Speaker
year. It was virtual, but your next conference is coming up in December 7th through the 9th. What could attendees expect to learn at this conference? And if they want to sign up, how would they go about that?
00:25:07
Speaker
We're really excited to be able to connect with our stakeholders again this year at our annual conference. We do anticipate a hybrid event. We will have some in-person participation as well as a very robust virtual engagement with individuals that are interested in participating that way. I would recommend that people visit our website indianag.org.
00:25:31
Speaker
And they subscribe to our weekly resiliency through agriculture newsletter. It comes out every Friday. And that is where you will get updates around registration, when it's open, what the cost is going to be, who you can expect to hear from.
00:25:47
Speaker
and learn alongside. And we also share updates about all of our programs and some of those little success story nuggets that Carrie and I talked about on a weekly basis. So I encourage you to visit indianag.org and register for our newsletter. If you want a little Friday, pick me up to help get you through the last day of the week. That conference is December 7th through the 9th. People are interested in signing up. Carrie, what is an accomplishment or a new initiative from this last year that you're most proud of at IAC?
00:26:14
Speaker
Well, I have to say I'm very proud of the strides that we've made in connecting people to regionally available food. And I'm not just saying that because we're on a barn to door pod. Well, I am really serious about that. I don't like talking about the pandemic, but it really did force people into looking elsewhere for food. And I think it really opened a lot of eyes like, wow.
00:26:37
Speaker
This was so easy to find, to get, and it's so much better than the super store that we would normally go to. But I'm very proud of that. And we're continuing our work into elevating our producers in that realm where they haven't before. And then absolutely connecting people to those hubs. You guys also recently launched your new disaster resource initiative. Cause you made me talk about what the goal of that resource is and how farmers can utilize it.
00:27:02
Speaker
Our goal is to try to get resources put together into one place that are usable and people can find them. And then maybe if they need assistance in figuring out how further to participate, you know, that we could connect them with our regional representatives that are out in the field.
00:27:18
Speaker
Normally if there's a drought going on, it's just in one little area or maybe some floods, it's in one little area, but there are things going on throughout the whole entire country. Our producers need to know where to look because there are a lot of resources, but what's applicable and how do I find what's feasible? So that's the goal is to have it in one place and to provide assistance for those resources. Carrie, looking forward to what's next for IAC. What are you guys hoping to tackle next? What's on the horizon?
00:27:43
Speaker
One of the big things that we're launching is the ramping up our work with our native Farm Bill coalition, basically bringing all of Indian country together to work on our Farm Bill efforts. We need to hear the voices throughout the country to hear what's needed for changes so that we can all make better contributions to
00:28:02
Speaker
accessibility and providing healthy food throughout the country so that's one of the huge things on the horizon so everybody pay attention to the upcoming meetings that we're going to be holding because our stakeholders are out there and we need to hear the voices so that's the big thing that's coming up.
00:28:18
Speaker
Just to piggyback off of that a little bit, to really talk about the possibility for impact in being involved with our Native Farm Bill Coalition. In the most recent Farm Bill authorization, there were 63 provisions that the IAC's Native Farm Bill Coalition advanced along with our partners, and all 63 of them folded into the most recent Farm Bill.
00:28:38
Speaker
So there's so much power behind messages that carry the voice of such a diverse group of tribal leadership and allies. We do have an ally sign on opportunity for partner organizations that are not tribal leaders and maybe not even be tribal. So I encourage anybody listening to look up what Carrie said, what the Native Farm Bill Coalition is all about and what we stand for. I think you'll see that a lot of what we are pushing for
00:29:07
Speaker
will resonate directly with you as a producer working to feed your community. That's great. Great to hear that you guys are having success in that. I'm excited to see how it continues over the course of the next year. I want to extend my thanks to both Kelsey and Carrie and the entire membership at the Intertribal Ag Council.
00:29:23
Speaker
At Barn to Door, we are delighted to serve farmers in all 50 states, including the members at IAC. For more information on the Intertribal Ag Council, visit indianag.org. To learn more about Barn to Door, including access to numerous free resources and best practices for your farm, go to barn to door.com slash resources. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you next week.