Members
Tour Plum Creek Garlic in New Video
Check out our new video that chronicles a garlic field day of one of our stalwart members! We visited Plum Creek Garlic near St. Cloud, Minnesota on June, 2022. Now in their 14th year of growing garlic, they are active members of the Sustainable Farming Association and follow best practices including rotation and building soil capacity…
Read MoreTC Growers Visit St. Paul; Minneapolis
The Twin Cities Metro Growers Network was busy in June, fitting in two farm visits in a week! A small but mighty group of growers and local foods supporters gathered to explore Prairie Smoke Gardens in St. Paul on June 3. Katie and Madrone Kubovcik led us through the “neighborhood supported agriculture” operation on a…
Read MoreDirt Rich: What’s a REKO Ring?
Finnish farmer Thomas Snellman coined the concept of REKO Rings in 2013, and in the last few years they’ve begun to sprout in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This unique model of a local food market is connecting thousands of eaters directly to their local farmers using regional Facebook groups for each ring. To explain how REKO…
Read MoreStudy Confirms Higher Profits for Ag Water Quality Certified Farms
For the third year in a row, a study done by the Minnesota State Agricultural Centers of Excellence has shown that farms certified in the MN Ag Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) have higher profits than farms that are not certified. As a farmer myself, this makes me glad that our farm is certified and makes…
Read MoreRestoring Oak Savanna
As we approach our big field day at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge that will demonstrate targeted grazing to restore oak savanna, we thought it would be a good time to revisit this episode with Tyler Carlson and Stephen Thomforde we released last February. Tyler and Stephen pick up their conversation on oak savanna from Episode…
Read MoreMoving Silvopasture Forward, Locally
This year SFA will be offering a number of field days, workshops and podcasts for anyone interested in learning more about silvopasture. My aim over the next couple of years is for this work to bring together farmers and landowners, foresters, ecologists, and technical resource personnel across the state to identify the issues and barriers…
Read MoreThree Conversations on Farm Succession
Today we released the final part of Dirt Rich’s Farm Succession Miniseries. Over the last three weeks, the podcast series has featured guests with varying experiences in farm transitions, succession, and estate planning: Megan Roberts, farmer and Executive Director of the Southern Agricultural Center of Excellence; Jerry Ford, SFA and Living Song Farm; and today’s…
Read MoreMinnesota Now Features Local Farm Incubator
Moses Momanyi was recently featured on MPR’s Minnesota Now. Listen to him talk with Cathy Wurzer about Kilimo Minnesota, his family’s farm incubator in Cambridge serving fellow farmers of African descent here. Momanyi is a Conservation Connector and a member of SFA’s East Central Chapter.
Read MoreDirt Rich: Transferring a Land Ethic Legacy Farm
Jerry Ford and Mariénne Kreitlow are the fourth generation on a farm with a legacy in conservation. Living Song Farm sits on highly erodible land near Minnesota’s Crow River, but the practices introduced in the 1940’s by Mariénne’s father, Willard Kreitlow, have generated topsoil for decades. Jerry and Mariénne share Willard’s land ethic, and have…
Read MoreNext in the Queue: Part 2 of our Farm Succession Miniseries
This week on Dirt Rich: Part 2 of our Farm Succession Miniseries. On April 27, look for our episode with Jerry Ford on transferring a farm with a legacy in conservation. Ford will describe his and his wife’s goals for succession (including living on the farm even after retirement) and his experience with both family and…
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