Leadership Development
Say ‘Hey’ to SFA at FarmFest
Will you be at FarmFest this year? Come say hello at the Soil Health Tent! We will be at the Redwood County event all three days, August 1-3, co-hosting the Soil Health Tent with Minnesota Soil Health Coalition and a whole crew of great partners. We’ll have rainfall demonstrations, cover crop and Kernza plots, live…
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 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 MoreDig Deep at the Midwest Soil Health Summit
Our flagship soil health event in the region, the Midwest Soil Health Summit, is celebrating its 10th year of networking, sharing, and education on all things soil health and regenerative agriculture! This year we are bringing internationally acclaimed soil microbiologist Dr. Elaine Ingham, who nearly four decades ago discovered the soil food web, and has pioneered research and…
Read MoreAnnual Conference a Smash
“This year’s conference had such an amazing energy to it. With 17 sessions on a wide variety of topics, a number of first-time exhibitors, a book and apple scion wood swap, and a day-long opportunity to catch up with old friends over coffee and banana bread, I’m not sure how we’re going to top it next year.”
Read MoreTune in to the Latest Dirt Rich Podcast Episodes
For me, winter is podcast season. It’s when I sit down and really listen and think critically about what other farms are doing, why it works for them (or doesn’t), and if it could fit into my own farm. Podcasts have been a really important part of the development of our farm and have contributed…
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 MoreSupport farmers like Kate, Amy, and Dayle
This Give to the Max season, our goal is to raise $15,000 for our on-farm consulting work. Community leaders have generously posted a $5,000 matching grant! Can you help us meet it? Give here! What’s an on-farm consult? Upon request, one or two of our farmer consultants spend several hours walking your farm to get the…
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