Dairy
Annual Conference registration open
Come one, come all! Registration for the 2024 Annual Conference is open. We can’t wait to reconvene with hundreds of you farmers, ag professionals, aspiring growers, homesteaders, and local foods supporters. Join us at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph on Saturday, February 10, 2024. Members can take advantage of a $25 Early Bird discount. Register…
Read MoreEnchanted Meadows Pasture Walk
Our last pasture walk of the season with Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship will be held Thursday, October 26, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in La Crescent, Minn. Click here to register. Meet Angie Walter at Enchanted Meadows, an organic, pasture-based dairy in La Crescent. Chad & Melissa Crowley and Art & Jean Thicke milk Ayrshires here on the Mississippi…
Read MoreGranite Falls Café Chat
SFA is bringing a café chat to Granite Falls! Join us at Falls Cafe & Canoe on Tuesday, October 24 from 12:00-1:30 PM for lunch and a casual conversation featuring the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Program as well as SFA’s popular On-Farm Consulting services. Come to this informal gathering for lunch during the busy harvest season and a chance to have a…
Read MoreMidwest Soil Health Summit 2024 Early Bird registration open
Early Birds get the deal! We’ve got some big news… Early Bird registration for the next Midwest Soil Health Summit is open! Our biggest soil health event of the year will be held at the Courtyard Marriott in Mankato on March 13 & 14, 2024. We’re excited to really dig into our theme: “Managing for Profit with the Soil Health…
Read MoreDGA PaddockTrac Demo at Walter Farm is Sept. 7 in Villard
SFA’s Angie Walter is hosting a DGA Fall Pasture Walk and demonstration of the PaddockTrac system from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 7, at her Walter Organic Family Farm, 11034 110th St, Villard. The PaddockTrac device, which is in the prototype phase, mounts to the front of a UTV or 4-wheeler and uses…
Read MoreFoundations of Fencing Workshop
Are you intimidated by the thought of building your own fences? Do you simply need a hands-on refresher? There are limited seats remaining for our Foundations of Fencing workshop on August 11 in Pine River! Join Kent Solberg and Jonathan Kilpatrick, along with members of the Crow Wing River Basin Forage Council, for a day in the field learning…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Dealing with Drought
July has seen swaths of Minnesota move into increasingly intense drought conditions, per the U.S. Drought Monitor. With the 2021 drought in the rearview mirror, five SFA farm consultants from across Minnesota gathered for a roundtable drought discussion on our latest episode of Dirt Rich. Listen in to hear how Angie Walter, Derek Schmitz, Doug Voss,…
Read MoreWatering Systems for Livestock Workshop
Want to get some ideas for bringing your watering system to the next level? Come on out to Voss Farms in Paynesville on Friday, July 21, 1:00-5:00 PM! During this field day, Doug Voss and Jonathan Kilpatrick will be showcasing many options and opportunities for graziers to provide water to their livestock. You’ll see several elements…
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 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…
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