Nate Powell-Palm: farming locally, working nationally

Welcome to Food, Montana. Population: 61

Our guest today, Nate Powell-Palm, earned organic certification in 2008 at age 16, making him the youngest farmer in the country to do so. Fast forward, and Nate has grown his organic wheat, pulses, flax and cattle operations from 10 leased acres in Belgrade to 1,400 leased and 70 owned acres between the Gallatin Valley and Wyoming.

In 2020, US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue appointed Nate to the National Organic Standards Board, where his peers soon elected him chairman. Among many other things, Nate is now building value-added processing under the brand Springhill Feeds and helping grow the USDA’s transition to organic mentorship program.

Food, Montana is hosted by Emily Stifler Wolfe and Jeremy Nadison.