Annual Conference

Annual-Conference-Logo

Saturday, February 11, 2023
Gorecki Conference Center
College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph

Early bird registration is now open!

$50 for current SFA members, $75 for nonmembers.  Ends December 31, 2022. Prices go up by $25 on January 1, 2023!
Emerging Farmers:  Free

Children's program (ages 5-12): $10

Lunch ticket in St. Ben's excellent cafeteria: $15.  (You may also do lunch on your own.)

Register HERE.

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With topics including:

  • Fruit & Vegetable Soil Health and Profitability
  • Grazing Strategies
  • "Burn the Box" Changing Ag Paradigms
  • Beekeeping
  • Farm Profitability
  • Emerging Farmer Resources
  • Climate Adaptability
  • New Cooperative Marketing Models
  • and more!

Full schedule coming soon.

Sponsor and Exhibitor Opportunities

Please consider partnering with us on SFA's flagship event for farmer-to-farmer education and networking.

More information and an application form are HERE.

Our 2023 Sponsors

BLOOM SPONSORS

Afternoon Social Sponsor

Lakewinds Co-op

A community owned grocery store with 3 locations in the Twin Cities Metro area, Lakewinds' mission is to promote sustainable agriculture, support local makers. and nourish our community. No membership required to shop, and all are welcome!

Opening Plenary Session Sponsor

Compeer

SAPLING SPONSORS

MAWQCP

A voluntary opportunity for farmers and ag landowners to take the lead in conservation practices that protect our water while obtaining regulatory certainty for 10 years.

MN Department of Agriculture

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture mission is to enhance all Minnesotans' quality of life by equitably ensuring the integrity of our food supply, the health of our environment and the strength and resilience of our agricultural community.

SEED SPONSORS

Solar Farm LLC

Solar Electric (PV) design, sales and installation.

A look back at our 2022 conference:
Why attend our Annual Conference? Take it from these farmers:

Our Blog

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Who are SFA members? Meet Bianca Goncalves Da Costa.

By SFA of MN | Oct 24, 2024 |

Who are SFA members? We call ourselves the “farmer-to-farmer network,” but our ecosystem is far wider. We attract and partner with people and organizations interested in shifting the agricultural paradigm from an extractive model to a regenerative one. Our 1,300 members include both seasoned and new farmers and ranchers, as well as agricultural educators, agency…

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Who are SFA members? Meet Dayna Burtness.

By SFA of MN | Oct 24, 2024 |

Who are SFA members? We call ourselves the “farmer-to-farmer network,” but our ecosystem is far wider. We attract and partner with people and organizations interested in shifting the agricultural paradigm from an extractive model to a regenerative one. Our 1,300 members include both seasoned and new farmers and ranchers, as well as agricultural educators, agency…

Read More

Who are SFA members? Meet Tom Barthel.

By SFA of MN | Oct 23, 2024 |

Who are SFA members? We call ourselves the “farmer-to-farmer network,” but our ecosystem is far wider. We attract and partner with people and organizations interested in shifting the agricultural paradigm from an extractive model to a regenerative one. Our 1,300 members include both seasoned and new farmers and ranchers, as well as agricultural educators, agency…

Read More

Join SFA during our Fall New Member Drive!

By SFA of MN | Oct 21, 2024 |

For more than 30 years the Sustainable Farming Association has brought together Minnesotans interested in improving soil health, growing healthy food, and revitalizing rural communities. Our “Farmer-to-Farmer” network continues to bring together farmers, ranchers, researchers, advocates, ag professionals, and eaters to transform agriculture, one farm at a time. Become a member during SFA’s fall new member drive…

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Announcing SFA’s new mission and strategic plan: Sharpening the focus of our work to serve you better.

By SFA of MN | Oct 18, 2024 |

By Lucinda Winter, Executive Director After many months of work by our staff, consultants, board directors and all of you who completed our first-ever survey, I’m delighted to share SFA’s new mission and strategic roadmap with you. This new mission and focus for our work felt necessary at this time. Our previous strategic plan was…

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“Round up” for Farmers at Lakewinds throughout October

By SFA of MN | Oct 15, 2024 |

October is National Co-op month, and while you’re visiting Lakewinds Food Co-op you can also support SFA! Throughout October, you have the opportunity to round up your bill at any of Lakewinds’ three locations (Richfield, Minnetonka, and Chanhassen). Proceeds will go towards our pilot On-Farm Consulting program. Led by fellow farmers, this program is one of the ways we’re…

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SFA’s Midwest Soil Health Summit Evolves

By SFA of MN | Oct 4, 2024 |

By Jonathan Kilpatrick • Farmer Education Director For 11 years, the Sustainable Farming Association has proudly hosted the Midwest Soil Health Summit, an educational event developed during a time when soil health was still a budding concept. According to our resident historians, the Summit emerged as a platform for sharing agricultural innovations and assisting farmers…

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Seed School Seeks Students for October Intensive

By SFA of MN | Sep 19, 2024 |

SFA and North Circle Seeds owner Zachary Paige are pleased to announce an intensive, multi-day Seed School, to be held at the North Circle Seeds Farm in Vergas, MN October 25-27th, 2024. This opportunity is made possible through a grant from West Central Initiative Foundation (WCIF). Zachary will lead a three-day immersive training where participants…

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Cover Crop Options after Small Grain Harvest

By SFA of MN | Aug 7, 2024 |

By Jonathan Kilpatrick • Farmer Education Director While persistent rainfall across the state is delaying the start of small grain harvest for many farmers, this downtime can be used to plan for post-harvest cover crops. Planting cover crops immediately after harvesting small grains like wheat, barley, or oats can be highly beneficial and is a…

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August 8 Café Chat to explore no-till and cover crops

By SFA of MN | Aug 5, 2024 |

Could implementing practices like cover crops and no-till on your farm work for you and your bottom line? What if you could get paid to do it? Enjoy a meal and conversation with area farmers and your Soil Water Conservation District this Thursday, August 8 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Duffy’s Riverside Saloon…

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Our Blog

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Dirt Rich: Farm Succession Miniseries Launches

By kfeterl | Apr 20, 2022

Today we released the first of a three-part miniseries on farm succession. This first episode features a conversation with Megan Roberts, Executive Director of the Southern Agricultural Center of Excellence. Roberts has experienced many farm transitions: as a non-farm heir to her family dairy farm, as an in-law in a family farm transition, and as…

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Did you haul feed or livestock to graze during the drought? Check out ELAP.

By SFA of MN | Apr 15, 2022

Due to the persistent drought conditions in the Great Plains and West, the  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering additional relief through the Emergency Assistance for  Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) to help ranchers cover above normal costs of  hauling livestock to forage or other grazing acres. This policy enhancement complements previously…

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Quick Cover Crops Guide

By SFA of MN | Apr 13, 2022

Last month, Dan Zimmerli wrote about incorporating cover crops on market farms and the benefits he’s seen in his own operation. You might consider using the Quick Cover Crops Guide for ideas as you plan for the growing season ahead. Dan also welcomes questions at dan@sfa-mn.org.

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Two Years In, Strides Made in Silvopasture

By tcarlson | Apr 11, 2022

Every once in a while, I stop and realize how incredible the level of support and interest in silvopasture is here in Minnesota and across the country.  Just a few years ago I don’t think there were more than a few dozen people in the state who knew enough about it to not give me…

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Dirt Rich: Grazing Cattle to Restore Oak Savanna in the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

By kfeterl | Apr 6, 2022

Using livestock to restore landscapes may seem like a contradiction, but oak savannas thrive with disturbance. Grazier Doug Voss and PhD candidate Austin Yantes are involved in a project at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, studying the results of carefully managed cattle grazing, tree thinning, and burning in striving to meet Sherburne’s ecological goals. The…

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Beyond Your Backyard: The First Signs of Spring

By mbenage | Apr 4, 2022

I always know it’s time for spring when the first fuzzy pasqueflowers emerge. For a wildflower—something we often think of as delicate—they are anything but. They continue to grow undeterred by wide weather fluctuations between 60 degrees and then 30. Their shoots and buds armored in a dense winter coat of fuzz. Doggedly determined to…

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Dirt Rich: Managing Spring Grazing

By kfeterl | Apr 2, 2022

With springtime around the corner, we’re revisiting our 2021 episode on managing spring grazing. When is the best time to turn the cows out? Kent Solberg and Jared Luhman dig into this decision that sets you up for the rest of the grazing season. It can be awful tempting to get started as soon as…

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The 1000 Farms Initiative

By jluhman | Apr 1, 2022

On Thursday March 10, we hosted a soil health event in Ivanhoe, MN highlighting the research and work done by Dr. Jonathan Lundgren and his team at Ecdysis, as well as Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz and their inspiring story of success with soil health on their crop and livestock farm near Redwood Falls. If you…

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Incorporate cover crops on your market farm this year!

By dzimmerli | Mar 29, 2022

More hours of sunlight and warmer temperatures mean spring is on its way! If you are a produce farmer there’s a good chance you’ve already started your first seeds of the season or will do so in the very near future. It’s an exciting time of year! While we’re busy considering which cash crops to…

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