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,…

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Slate of Experts to Convene at 2023 Midwest Soil Health Summit

Dave Brandt, Gene Goven, Dr. Elaine Ingham, and local experts including Anna Cates, PhD and our own Kent Solberg are among the presenters at the 2023 Midwest Soil Health Summit: Pioneering the Future: The Soil Health Mavericks. SFA’s premier soil health event will be held at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Minnesota on March 8 and…

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Restoring 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…

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Moving 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…

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Two Years In, Strides Made in Silvopasture

Every once in a while, I stop and realize how incredible the level of support and interest in silvopasture is here in Minnesota and across the country.  Just a few years ago I don’t think there were more than a few dozen people in the state who knew enough about it to not give me…

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Dirt Rich: Grazing Cattle to Restore Oak Savanna in the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

Using livestock to restore landscapes may seem like a contradiction, but oak savannas thrive with disturbance. Grazier Doug Voss and PhD candidate Austin Yantes are involved in a project at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, studying the results of carefully managed cattle grazing, tree thinning, and burning in striving to meet Sherburne’s ecological goals. The…

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A View from the Summit, Part 2

Read Part 1 here. Recently, I shared some moments from the first day of our Midwest Soil Health Summit. Our second day was more tailored to crop and livestock farmers, and it was a delight to see over half of our guests attend both days, regardless of their focus. There’s always something to learn. Featured…

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Managing Land with Solar Grazing

Audrey Lomax manages the grazing enterprises of MNL, a Minnesota-based land management and restoration company that provides ecological products and services. One of the neat parts of her job is that she manages thousands of acres under solar arrays with their flock of 2500 Katahdin sheep. This service provides vegetation management and pollinator habitat in…

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Payments for Hauling Water and Feed to Pasture

Attention to livestock producers with pasture: as a result of the drought we had this summer, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has edited the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish program (ELAP) and it will now give producers payments for hauling water and feed to livestock on pasture. The payments are easy to…

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Luhman: Lightening the Load

So often people fear that in order to improve their soil health and regenerate their soil it will come at the expense of their profitability and the success of their farming business. And while it is true that adopting regenerative farming practices can be a learning experience, and sometimes that comes with yield hits or…

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