New year, new dues, and a new member benefit!

If you haven’t met Suzanne Miller-McFeeley yet, allow me to introduce her! Suzanne joined our team of consultants in 2023 and was recently named our Development & Membership Manager. She is now our go-to person for all things membership, and has hit the ground running in implementing our new board-driven membership dues structure. A South Dakota farm kid herself, she truly enjoys connecting with SFA-ers and looks forward to building up our membership experience. If you’re at the Annual Conference February 8, be sure to say hello! -Katie Feterl, Communications Director

By Suzanne Miller-McFeeley • Development & Membership Manager

Happy New Year from SFA! This year marks the 35th anniversary of SFA’s founding, a milestone truly worth celebrating. Our Association staff and Chapter leaders are hard at work planning a 2025 full of educational events and opportunities to connect and learn from each other. Check out our event schedule here! We are also launching a new membership benefit and changes to our membership structure and dues.

New Membership Benefit

Starting January 2025, SFA members receive a 15% discount code from Powerflex Rotational Grazing Supply! We’re excited about this new partnership, it’s a natural fit for our network. Save money on your fencing supplies with this annual, non-transferable discount.

Don’t forget, Members also receive a 15% discount from North Circle Seeds, a Minnesota-based seed company selling diverse, culturally appropriate, certified organic Open Pollinated and Heirloom seeds.

Redeem your discount by using an SFA code at online checkout. Both the Powerflex and North Circle Seeds codes are provided in your membership payment confirmation emails going forward and on the “SFA Members-Only Page” when you log in to your SFA account.

Membership Structure and Dues

SFA is introducing new membership levels and dues at the end of January. This new structure was approved by our Board of Directors at their November 2024 meeting. Our dues have not changed since 2017, and the time has come for us to make adjustments to better fund our Chapters and Association support services.

The new membership levels and their corresponding dues are listed below and will apply to all new and renewing memberships beginning January 31, 2025. If you are already a member, you will not experience the change in dues until your current membership term ends.

If you’re not a member yet or have a lapsed membership, join before January 31 to lock in a year of membership at our current rates.

For current members, the new membership level options mean you will have to manually renew at the end of your membership term and pick a new level. After you choose a new level, you’ll be able to re-sign up for automatic renewal. We’ll send you reminder emails when your membership term is coming to an end.

New Membership Levels:  Beginning: $30 (previously ‘Pay-What-You-Can’) Individuals who are current students, beginning farmers, and others on fixed or limited incomes are welcome to join.    Individual: $60 (previously $40)  For individual farmers and community members who support sustainable farming.    Household: $90 (previously $50)  Extend the benefits & discounts included with your SFA membership to the other members of your household [may specify up to 4 members to include with membership].    Business/Organizations: $240 (renamed and previously $150)  For agriculture professionals, organizations, conservation groups, and government agencies, [may specify up to 5 employees to include with membership].    Transforming: $500 (new member level)  Membership in support of SFA’s Mission [may specify up to 5 individuals to include with membership]

Implementing these organization-wide changes – and ensuring there are no hiccups in your membership experience – is a new venture for our team. We’ve tried to anticipate and mitigate challenges/errors that a new structure may create in our database and email system, but if you notice that something slips through the cracks don’t panic! We will be happy to troubleshoot and make sure your membership is squared away.

Stay tuned for more email communications in the coming weeks with further details. And if you have additional questions, you can always email me at suzanne@sfa-mn.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I be charged more on January 31, 2025 if my membership is active? No. The new dues amounts will only apply when you join or renew your membership on January 31, 2025 or after.

Can I renew my membership early and get one more year of the current dues? You sure can! You can always renew early. Renewal always extends your membership a full year out from your membership’s expiration date, rather than the date of payment.

What if I have my membership set up to auto-renew? Thank you, we love auto-renew! It saves staff time and resources, and we hope it’s more convenient for you too.

After we sunset the old membership levels on January 30, 2025, memberships will no longer auto-renew for those levels. If you have auto-renew enabled for a membership level that won’t exist after January 30, 2025, you will need to select a new membership level and enable auto-renew again. You can select a new membership level beginning January 31, 2025. It is also perfectly fine to wait until your membership expires (or anywhere in between) — whatever works best for you.

How much of my dues support my local chapter? Along with the increase in member dues comes an increase in chapter support. If you are a member of a chapter, 75% of your dues will go to your chapter. This is up from a flat rate of $10 per membership.