SFA’s Midwest Soil Health Summit Evolves

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 in successfully adopting principles to enhance soil health. Thousands of people have gathered with leaders in the soil health movement at past Summits, sharing their successes and challenges and fostering invaluable networking opportunities among farmers and ranchers.

As the importance of soil health has become more widely recognized and soil health education more readily available, we are shifting the educational focus of the Summit and rebranding the event as the Midwest Grazing & Soil Health Summit.

More than just a name change, the Summit’s evolution acknowledges and celebrates the deep connection between soil and livestock in building thriving ecosystems and communities.

SFA has long been at the forefront of grazing management education here in the Midwest, advocating for the integration of livestock into cropping systems through practices like cover crop and crop residue grazing. Grazing plays a vital role in building resilient, regenerative systems that enhance the health of both the land, the livestock, and the communities that the soil sustains.

For those concerned about a shift from our roots in soil health, rest assured: it remains the core of everything we do. Healthy soils are the foundation of successful grazing systems. Grazing animals and thriving soils are intertwined like roots and soil — driving nutrient cycles, sequestering and cycling carbon, and fostering biodiversity both above and below ground. This new emphasis allows us to explore the dynamic harmony between grazing and soil health—together, they create a regenerative path forward for farmers and ranchers.

I invite you to join us in Willmar on March 19 & 20 for the inaugural Midwest Grazing & Soil Health Summit. Stay tuned for announcements about registration, speakers, and exciting new partnerships, as we continue to transform agriculture, one farm at a time.