Education
Watch TC Growers’ “Spotlight” on Naima Dhore
The Twin Cities Metro Growers Network convened online last month for a “Growers Spotlight” on Naima Dhore, a certified organic Somali-American farmer and founder of the Somali American Farmers Association. Learn more about SAFA and about her farming experience, including pursuing an FSA loan to purchase farmland, on the Youtube video. The next virtual meeting will…
Read MoreImmigrant Farmer to Share Her Journey at TC Growers Meeting
Hear the story of Somali-American organic farmer Naima Dhore and her journey toward owning her own farm as SFA’s Twin Cities Growers Network hosts its next virtual gathering from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Fri., Aug. 14. Her story provides inspiration to those seeking to farm and provides a real example of how one hardworking family…
Read MoreDirt Rich Heads to Pasture
The latest two episodes of Dirt Rich are focused on grazing. Kent Solberg and Doug Voss return for some timely perspective on “Designing Cover Crops for Late Season Grazing.” They discuss the biological benefits of grazing complex cover crops (nicknamed “biological primers”), and walk us through the process of designing a seed mix that will…
Read MoreDirt Rich Hits the Airwaves
We’re excited to announce the debut of SFA’s new podcast series: Dirt Rich. Each episode will bring you a seasonal conversation on food and farming, and highlight the regenerative agriculture work in Minnesota. As you know, there’s a wealth of knowledge in the farmer-to-farmer network, and plenty of people willing to share their experiences. Farmers,…
Read MoreDGA Update: Develop, Improve Skills With Our New Borrower Training Program
The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship has some exciting news to share! DGA has been approved as a national vendor for FSA’s Borrower Training Program. Farm Service Agency, which requires financial management training for its beginning farmer loan agreements, has approved DGA to provide that training nationwide. FSA works with local and national vendors to help borrowers…
Read MoreSolberg on Soil: The Basics of Creating Wildlife Habitat
Creating wildlife habitat is often cited among landowners and farmers as a reason to alter management on their land, including moving to a focus on soil health. For some species generalists such as deer, downy woodpeckers and Canada geese, this is easy as they can thrive in suburban areas, golf courses and parks as well…
Read MoreSolberg on Soil: Small Grains Can Work in Crop Rotation
Corn and soybean farmers question the financial ability of adding small grains, namely wheat, into their crop rotation. Dr. David Hooker presents some interesting work on calculating returns when adding wheat inter-seeded with red clover to the corn and soybean rotation. While the video is a few years old, he stands by the thought process…
Read MoreColumnist: Why We’re Missing the Mark With Clean Water
By Scott Haase Editor’s Note: Scott Haase is a member of the SFA Board of Directors. He wrote this article for the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance. Contact Scott at scott@bluedirtfarm.com. For years, I’ve been watching the Blue Earth River wildly fluctuating in terms of its flow. It can be nearly dried up and then a…
Read MoreSolberg on Soil: Videos, Tighty Whities, Soil as Biology & More
Dr. Mike Lehmann, who spoke at the 2016 Midwest Soil Health Summit, is featured in this three-video series that explores how a diversity of microbes in healthy soil can accelerate decomposition. Spoiler alert: the cotton undies decomposed faster in the more diverse crop rotation. View the videos on our Soil Health Videos page (to order…
Read MoreFrom the Executive Director: Silvopasture is Next-Level Soil Health
Minnesota has over 650,000 acres of unmanaged farm woodlands that are being grazed by livestock but are yielding limited economic and environmental benefits. Without active management of livestock, forage and trees, this practice produces limited forage, lower weight gain, environmental challenges and little to no soil health benefits. That statistic was shared at SFA’s Greater…
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