Posts by SFA of MN
Workshop: Is your soil functioning?
Join SFA’s Kent Solberg and Doug Voss along with Lake of the Woods Soil & Water Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff for an afternoon in the field from noon to 3 p.m. Wed., July 5, in Williams, Minn. We will be looking at ways we can evaluate whether or not our soils…
Read MoreNew Case Studies Tell Hopeful Stories
A brand new volume of farm case studies are hot off the press. This time, the case studies highlight farms and their soil health practices who are certified through the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP). Angie Walter, the MAWQCP Outreach Coordinator with SFA, began working on this project in 2021 thanks to a boots-on-the-ground…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: Bumble bee Buzz
By Megan Benage Well, was that a suspense builder or what? You might have even thought that I forgot about part 3 of this ode to nature series, but not so! Sometimes field season and surveying prairies is just very, very distracting in the best way. I’ve been enjoying visiting all of my prairie friends…
Read MoreDrought again?
By Dan Zimmerli • Community Organizer and Outreach Coordinator 2022 and 2021 proved to be very dry seasons for most farmers in Minnesota. Depending on where you are, 2023 feels like it might be another dry year. It’s impossible to know for sure, but long-range models indicate that June will trend drier than normal for…
Read MoreFencing for Small Ruminants Workshop
Due to popular demand for our spring workshop, we are hosting another Semi-permenant and Temporary Energized Fence Systems for Small Ruminants workshop! Join Jonathan Kilpatrick and Kent Solberg for this free, hands-on event suitable for both beginning farmers and those who need a refresher. They will cover the basics of electric fencing geared towards small…
Read MoreInsurance and liability considerations for agritourism
By Jerry Ford • SFA Network Coordinator This article was originally written for the University of Minnesota Extension’s Fruit and Vegetable News blog. Insurance is very important for all farming operations, but is especially important for agritourism operations that host visitors on this farm. This article details important topics related to insurance for agritourism farms.…
Read MorePaddockTrac Grazing Demonstration June 16
Organic dairy grazier Angie Walter will demonstrate PaddockTrac at her family farm in Villard on Friday, June 16, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. PaddockTrac is a grazing tool being developed by the University of Missouri. Guests will see how it works in the field and hear about what the Walters have used while using it on their 100-cow…
Read MoreMinnesota Garlic Festival: Chef Stage Really Big Announcement
Reprinted with permission from the ever-delightful Stinky News. If you would like to subscribe to The Stinky News, please send an email to garlicgrowers@sfa-mn.org saying so. You know those old romantic movies where the two lovers are running toward each other in slow motion, arms outstretched, across a field of flowers? It’s kind of like that, but…
Read MoreSFA Welcomes Derek Schmitz
We are excited to have dairy grazier Derek Schmitz join us as our Minnesota Dairy Initiative (MDI) coordinator! Derek farms near Cold Spring with his wife Taylor and two (soon to be three) children. They milk 70 grass-based dairy cows, raise hair sheep, custom graze, and direct market beef. You may have been to their…
Read MoreMay is Mental Health Awareness Month: How are you doing?
By Lucinda Winter • Executive Director Now that it’s finally safe to stop layering before heading outside, I’m hearing from both SFA staff and members that they are hitting it hard to make up for lost time this spring. May is such a busy time for farmers, especially so this year, and that can be…
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