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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‘Give to the Max’ and help us transform agriculture

By SFA of MN | Nov 21, 2024 |

By: Lucinda Winter Executive Director Today is Give to the Max Day! Minnesota’s annual giving holiday is always a sure sign that the year is coming to a close. This has been a year of growth and evolution for SFA. Through our newly refined mission and strategic plan, we are focusing on what we do best: providing boot-on-the-ground…

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Thursday is Give to the Max Day

By SFA of MN | Nov 20, 2024 |

Today is the final day of early giving before Give to the Max Day! Give your gift to support our general fund today on our Give to the Max page or SFA’s website. Thanks to a generous match provided by board directors, staff, and members every donation up to $5,000 will be doubled! SFA has forged a reputation as a…

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Your impact doubled during Give to the Max!

By SFA of MN | Nov 18, 2024 |

Only three more days until Give to the Max Day! This year, we’re focusing our Give to the Max contributions on our vital general fund. SFA’s mission of transforming agriculture one farm at a time is driven by our dedicated team. We maintain a lean operating structure with four core staff members supplemented by role-specific…

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Support SFA this Give to the Max Day!

By SFA of MN | Nov 16, 2024 |

It’s nearly time for Minnesota’s state-wide giving holiday: Give to the Max! We are thrilled to share that a group of generous board directors, staff, and donors have put up $5,000 to match your donations, dollar for dollar. Click here to give. The official Give to the Max day is scheduled for November 21, but early giving…

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An assuring blast from the past

By SFA of MN | Nov 8, 2024 |

By Katie Feterl • Communications Director Throughout our Fall New Member Drive, we’ve been sharing member experiences, in their own words. By now you may have seen posts spotlighting folks like Tom Barthel, Dayna Burtness, and Bianca Goncalves Da Costa, among others who shared their reflections in video interviews. With members top of mind and a fresh mission…

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“It’s one of the organizations I’m really proud to be a member of.”

By SFA of MN | Oct 30, 2024 |

As our Fall New Member Drive continues, we wanted to highlight one of the lesser-known benefits of SFA membership: access to innovative research and shared learning! SFA is a leading regional partner in sustainable agriculture research, and our members receive priority in SFA research and education projects. Whether it’s soil health and silvopasture case studies, cultivation…

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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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Our Blog

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Zimmerli: MarketLink can help you accept SNAP payments

By dzimmerli | Jun 10, 2021

Are you a local foods producer or farmers market manager who’d like to participate in the SNAP program administered by the USDA? With the MarketLink grant program farmers and farmers markets can easily apply to take SNAP payments for their farm or market, and the best part is that you can do it from your…

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Luhman: Tree seeds for the future

By jluhman | Jun 8, 2021

Are you interested in learning how to collect climate-forward tree seeds? The Forest Assisted Migration Project (FAMP) is developing a network of farmers and community members in central and southern Minnesota who will collect tree seeds and sell them directly to northern tree growers. Anyone can participate! This is a great opportunity to earn extra…

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Spring Grazing Management on ‘Dirt Rich’

By kfeterl | Jun 7, 2021

When is the best time to turn the cows out? On Episode 31 of Dirt Rich, 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 we see green, but Kent illustrates how letting…

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Luhman: Importance of Recording Observations

By jluhman | May 24, 2021

In adaptive grazing management, we are constantly adjusting and “adapting” our management to a variety of factors from weather, to the specific paddock we’re in, to the time of year it is as well as adapting to past management decisions. The challenge with adapting is that it is so easy to forget past observations or…

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Beyond Your Backyard: Brood X

By mbenage | May 11, 2021

If you’ve been watching the news lately there’s a new celebrity everyone’s talking about. Big bulging eyes, long body in a variety of colors, sturdy wings, and a distinctive call that heralds warmer weather just as surely as its evening costar, the firefly does. This daytime celebrity is none other than the cicada. They’ve been…

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Check this out! Garlic on PBS

By SFA of MN | May 8, 2021

Our own Jerry Ford was featured on Pioneer PBS’ Prairie Yard & Garden on Earth Day! The topic? Growing garlic, of course. You can catch the episode here. If that makes you hungry for more, you can find garlic cooking demos on the Minnesota Garlic Festival channel, more garlic growing resources on our website, and…

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Podcast: Getting Ready for a Seed Saving Season

By kfeterl | Apr 23, 2021

Zachary Paige returns to Dirt Rich in Episode 28 for a conversation on planning ahead for seed saving! You may remember him from Episode 21 at the top of the season. Zach farms and operates North Circle Seeds in Vergas, Minnesota. North Circle Seeds is a newly certified organic seed company and collective committed to…

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First Local Foods & Farmer Expo a Huge Success

By dzimmerli | Apr 20, 2021

The newest chapter of SFA has just held its first event: the Local Foods & Farmers Expo over Zoom in late March. It was a huge success despite the challenges of COVID. This event was conceived by the chapter organizing group as a way to raise awareness about local foods and expand markets for local…

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Solberg on Soil: Wide-Row Corn for More Income, Soil Health?

By ksolberg | Apr 13, 2021

Some recent thoughts on wide-row corn were recently discussed in Successful Farming Magazine. For producers with beef cattle, sheep or dairy replacement heifers, wide-row corn may be a more profitable way to use corn acres. Wide-row corn could be a means of developing 2-3 income streams from what was single-income acreage while increasing plant diversity, integrating livestock and…

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