The coronavirus has thrown educators for a loop, including Michigan State University Extension educators. But there’s a silver lining to every cloud, and this is a short story about one such shiny object. Around May of last year, MSU Extension caught the bug. Not coronavirus, though. Podcasts.

Extension joined the thousands of people who were now stuck at home reaching out from the deep caverns of the in-home office with a podcast.

In the wide world of podcasts, you can find a cast of characters for any subject you want, including farming, such as “Thriving Farmer Podcast,” and even fake farming, such as the U.K.’s comedic “Beef and Dairy Network.”

Lucky for us, the farming education and interview show was still a somewhat unplowed field, and there definitely were not enough pun-based titles. So, we went with “The Vegetable Beet.” Its revolving set of hosts from Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Ontario bring in guest commercial vegetable production experts from across the Great Lakes region to interview on timely vegetable topics throughout the season.

One of the reasons podcasts have become a popular medium is that they are easily accessible on a smartphone, and appeal to multitaskers and folks who spend a lot of time driving. Visual media-like YouTube videos and Zoom webinars require eyes on the screen and burn up battery life quickly.

Well, that’s the same tool you use to listen in to some audio-only, catered programming about vegetable production in the Midwest on “The Vegetable Beet.”

What makes “The Vegetable Beet” different from most podcasts? We record live shows on Wednesdays with Zoom and Facebook Live at 12:30 p.m. for 30 to 40 minutes, which allows us to grab some continuing education credits for restricted-use pesticide applicators and certified crop advisers who tune in live.

We’ve also got a great lineup of illegitimate sponsors that are more like short skits and caterwauls than real ads and jingles. To get a heads-up on the upcoming weekly episode, and listen to the recordings of past episodes, visit glveg.net/listen.

In the Weeds

While I’m on the subject, I must share another great podcast that MSU Extension has going right now. It’s called “In the Weeds,” and it is a monthly release run by Monica Jean and Sarah Fronczak on our field crops team that hits heavier cross-cutting topics that apply more broadly to our highest acreage agricultural producers.

Statistically speaking, more of you would enjoy this one over the vegetable one, because more of you grow field crops than vegetable crops. Monica and Sarah are great hosts who rope big topics down into practical territory with the ability to reword things and relate them with humor. They groom their guests well enough to bring good energy to the audio-only format.

For example, their recent deep dive into phosphorus has surfaced in several print and digital media formats, including “Myth-busting phosphorus in your fields,” and “Flushing phosporous down the drain tile.” To listen to the recordings, visit canr.msu.edu.

You can search “In the Weeds” or “The Vegetable Beet” on Spotify or Apple podcasts (and many others) to find us that way, too.

Phillips is an MSU Extension vegetable educator. He can be reached at [email protected] or 616-901-7513.

Source: MSU Extension, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.