Posts by SFA of MN
Beyond Your Backyard: Bison bison, an ode to a modern day mammoth
By Megan Benage I promised a three-part series and a three part-series ode to nature is what I intend to stand by. This series features raps about things in nature I find exciting, awe-inspiring, and frankly, worth rapping about. Part 2 could only highlight one of nature’s largest land mammals, the bison. (If you missed…
Read MoreBeyond Your Backyard: Rhizome Rap
By Megan Benage A while back I was trying to think of fun and engaging ways to get people excited about nature. I remembered when I was working as a naturalist on Cape Cod how we sometimes asked the students to voice their appreciation through song or short plays. And that got me thinking. If…
Read MoreA Living Room for Soil Biology? Part II
By Jonathan Kilpatrick, Soil Health Specialist Read Part I of this series here. So, what does the root system of a living plant accomplish for us? In short, the root system of a plant is a phenomenal communications, sales and marketing, shipping and handling service all wrapped into one full-service entity. Not many corporations can…
Read MoreMN Ag Water Quality Certified farmers are more profitable!
By Angie Walter • Agricultural Water Quality Certification Project Outreach Coordinator For the fourth year in a row, data analysis shows that farmers who are Ag Water Quality Certified are more profitable than farmers who are not certified. This data comes from the farm financials of farmers enrolled in Farm Business Management. Details on the economic studies…
Read MoreDGA Mentor Roundtable May 1
Angie Walter and the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship are hosting a free dairy roundtable in Albany, Minn. on Monday, May 1. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., aspiring and established dairy producers are invited to meet at Hillcrest Family Restaurant for lunch and discussion. The discussion will focus on how soil and plant health are related,…
Read MoreA Living Room for Soil Biology? Part I
By Jonathan Kilpatrick, Soil Health Specialist Recently, while doing some writing, I was using a voice-to-text application to speed up my work. As I was going back through what I had said, checking for errors and cleaning up the little things that these dictation tools tend to miss, I came across a sentence where I…
Read MoreMeet the Emerging Farmers Office
By Katie Feterl • Communications Director In 2022, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) opened the state’s first Emerging Farmers Office. On today’s episode of Dirt Rich, Lillian Otieno and Assistant Commissioner Patrice Bailey of the MDA Commissioner’s Office share how it came to be, the value it brings to our agricultural landscape, and the impacts…
Read MoreTake Time for Wellness this Season
By Dan Zimmerli, Community Organizer and Outreach Coordinator My social media feeds are taken up with farmers filling up their greenhouses and getting excited for the growing season. On my farm, we’re doing the same. During this time of year it’s easy to get excited for all the things to come over the growing season:…
Read MoreFree Livestock Producers Workshop
The Lake of the Woods SWCD is hosting a free Livestock Producer Workshop on Wednesday, March 29th from 12:30 to 4:30 PM at the VFW in Baudette, Minn. Speakers include Dr. Mouser, a veterinarian who will be presenting on “Preparing for Calving Season.” Eric Mousel, a University of MN Extension educator from Grand Rapids will present on scours.…
Read MoreScenes from the Summit
It was a nearly full house for our 10th Annual Midwest Soil Health Summit, held last week in Alexandria. Although snow showers threatened us on-and-off over the two-day period, inside we were cozy, dialed in to rich presentations, and swapping stories. Under the theme “Pioneering the Future: The Soil Health Mavericks,” we brought in a…
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