Dairy
Dirt 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…
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…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Grazing Tech – Paddock Track
On the latest episode of Dirt Rich, Organic dairy grazier Angie Walter shares her experience using PaddockTrac, a grazing tool being developed by the University of Missouri. Angie’s family runs a 100-cow organic dairy in Villard, Minn., grazing 80-100 acres at any given time. Theirs and 12 other Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship farms are piloting the PaddockTrac…
Read MoreDairy Margin Coverage Deadline Extended
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for producers to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) for program year 2023 to Jan. 31, 2023. DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed…
Read MorePioneering 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…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Wintering Cattle Roundtable
Winter can be the most expensive time to own a cow in the Midwest. As the season changes, we’re going back in the Dirt Rich archive to revisit a roundtable of five of our staff who also raise beef and dairy cows: Angie Walter, Jared Luhman, Doug Voss, Tyler Carlson, and Kent Solberg. Back in…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Enchanted Meadows – In Transition
Chad Crowley firmly believes that for those who want to get into dairy or farming in general, grazing is the way to go. That route has certainly gone well for him. He was told many times that he couldn’t find success in farming because he didn’t grow up on one. But today he and his…
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