You’ve fallen in love with homesteading! But you never anticipated that coyote stealing your lambs, or that fox that snatched your broilers for his own chicken dinner…   For thousands of years, dogs have been strategically bred, trained and used to protect livestock on the farm and serve as a threat to predators.  In this webinar of…

Join us for a free, guided pasture walk at Flanagan Farms: a 398-acre multi-unit operation focused on long-term soil health and profitability through strategic grazing and cropping. Attendees will get an in-depth look at how the Flanagans manage their home quarter using an 8-year crop and forage rotation that builds organic matter and improves gross margins…

Registration for this event closed Tuesday, June 17. Join us for a full-day educational bus tour exploring the powerful intersection of regenerative grazing, cover crops, and wildlife habitat. This unique learning opportunity will showcase local farms using good management of grazing and cover crops and emphasize how they improve wildlife habitat. Innovative and proven management…

Kevin Flowers will talk about his crops, pasture management and forest management plan. More information on the Greater Mille Lacs Chapter Webpage. Registration: All are welcome. Registration requested, walkups welcome. About the farm: Ole Lake Farm is home to farmers Kevin and Debby Flowers, a flock of free-range laying hens, heritage breed turkeys, pampered Alpine dairy…

Join us for the first pasture walk of the season at Ironwood Ranch, just outside of Brainerd! Justin Smude and his family run a 350-acre operation where they raise cow/calf pairs and sheep, grow hay and oats, and integrate annual forages into a diverse grazing system. Justin Smude, Kent Solberg, and Jonathan Kilpatrick will lead this walk. We’ll…

You’ve probably heard that chickens are the gateway into Homesteading life. There’s a reason! Raising your own chicken meat and eggs requires fairly minimal inputs and infrastructure to begin on your own.  With egg and meat prices on the rise, this summer sounds like a great time to begin raising your own! Jonathan Kilpatrick has been raising…

Join Leah Matzke for a full milking on the farm and an inside look at keeping a family cow, from daily care to safely processing fresh dairy at home. We’ll hear about managing farm-direct sales and how her on-site farm store connects customers with pasture-raised beef, pork, lamb, and even cheese cultures. This event is…

Join the Lake of the Woods and Roseau SWCDs and SFA for a free hands-on workshop focused on understanding your cost of production in agriculture. Led by Doug Voss and Jonathan Kilpatrick, this session will equip you with the tools to analyze your farm economics, uncover hidden costs, and make informed financial decisions.  We’ll go beyond…

Join us at Dave Evans Farms, a working cattle operation, for an illuminating demonstration of silvopasture by subtraction. Dave will walk attendees through his process for opening up oak savannas overtaken by other trees. We’ll also have a seeding demonstration showcasing various application methods. Bryan Simon, a silvopasture specialist with SFA, and DNR forester Brett…

Join the Sustainable Farming Association and the Minnesota Dairy Initiative for a free workshop aimed at helping dairy producers maximize on-farm resources to improve productivity and profitability. Featuring Doug Voss and Derek Schmitz*, this event will provide actionable strategies through two focused sessions:– Cutting the Crap with Manure – Discover where nutrient losses occur in…