Livestock
Kernza: Grain, Grazing, or Both?
What are the possibilities around using Kernza® for both a forage and grain? View Kernza plots and how it can fit into a grazing system at a free field day from 2 to 5 p.m. July 14 at the U. of M. West Central Research and Outreach Center, 46352 State Hwy 329 Morris. Brad Heins,…
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 MoreFencing for Small Ruminants Workshop
Due to popular demand for our spring workshop, we are hosting another Semi-permenant and Temporary Energized Fence Systems for Small Ruminants workshop! Join Jonathan Kilpatrick and Kent Solberg for this free, hands-on event suitable for both beginning farmers and those who need a refresher. They will cover the basics of electric fencing geared towards small…
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 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 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…
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…
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