Register for Free Wholesale Training in the New Year

Are you a farmer who sells produce? Are you considering selling wholesale? Have you tried selling wholesale and think it could work for you? Wholesale Readiness Training is a new and free opportunity in 2023! Sign up to join a regional farmer group with in-depth training, coaching, and one-on-one assistance to build skills and develop individual…

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Pioneering the Future: The Soil Health Mavericks

SFA’s premier soil health event, the Midwest Soil Health Summit, will be held at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Minnesota on March 8 and 9, 2023. Join pioneering experts in the soil health world from near and far for our 10th annual Summit! Featured speakers include Dave Brandt, Gene Goven, Dr. Elaine Ingham, and local…

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Farmer-to-Farmer: Rustic Roots Farm

Have you heard? Generous community leaders have stepped up to offer a $5,000 matching grant for our Give to the Max campaign! This is particularly exciting because this year, your gifts will support our farmer-to-farmer consulting program. All memberships and donations to SFA will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000. Early giving is officially underway and gifts…

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Tour Plum Creek Garlic in New Video

Check out our new video that chronicles a garlic field day of one of our stalwart members! We visited Plum Creek Garlic near St. Cloud, Minnesota on June, 2022.  Now in their 14th year of growing garlic, they are active members of the Sustainable Farming Association and follow best practices including rotation and building soil capacity…

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Dirt Rich: Designing Cover Crops for Late Season Grazing

It’s about that time to plant for late season grazing. Take a listen back to our episode on the topic from 2020–one of Dirt Rich’s earliest episodes! Kent Solberg and Doug Voss discuss the biological benefits of grazing complex cover crops (nicknamed “biological primers”), and will walk you through the process of designing a seed…

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Match Made in Heaven: Livestock + Crops

Green Lands Blue Waters recently released a new infographic depicting the integration of livestock and crops at a glance. This image was developed by and for farmers and service providers, in collaboration with the design firm Background Stories as part of the SARE grant project “Match Made In Heaven: Livestock + Crops.” SFA’s Jared Luhman was one…

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Minnesota Now Features Local Farm Incubator

Moses Momanyi was recently featured on MPR’s Minnesota Now. Listen to him talk with Cathy Wurzer about Kilimo Minnesota, his family’s farm incubator in Cambridge serving fellow farmers of African descent here. Momanyi is a Conservation Connector and a member of SFA’s East Central Chapter.

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

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

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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Four DIY Soil Health Tests

Sarah Lindblom returned to our Dirt Rich podcast this month to share four soil health tests that you can do at home to gain insight on the soil’s physical, chemical, and biological function. These tests can be valuable to gardeners and farmers at any scale, and can be done using simple materials from your recycling…

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