Dirt 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…

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Annual 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.”

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Beyond Your Backyard: Snow Covered Prairies

Snow Covered Prairies

For southern Minnesota at least it seems winter is truly here. As I watched the snow falling (and inevitably then blowing) outside my window today I was as enchanted as I always am when I’m tucked away in my warm house. Snow always seems to make winter feel more cozy. Its sparkling snowflakes cloak the…

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From the Executive Director: A New Website in the New Year

My first full year at SFA sped by in a blur of meeting members, attending events and forging relationships with our partners, allies and funders.  It was also the year we decided to take on the challenge of designing and a new SFA website, a team effort led by Laura Borgendale, with assistance from Katie…

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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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Season 3 Comes to a Close

Somehow we’ve already reached the end of our third season of Dirt Rich. This month we released two episodes with our staff, finishing out the year with some food for thought as folks plan for the next growing season. In Episode 61: What’s on your mind?, Jared Luhman, Doug Voss, Kent Solberg, and Jonathan Kilpatrick…

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Consults & Conferences

In this episode of Dirt Rich, Katie Feterl and Jared Luhman discuss SFA’s on-farm consulting offering, Give to the Max and SFA membership, and highlight two big upcoming events: Annual Conference and Midwest Soil Health Summit. Listen to Dirt Rich anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, YouTube, and on the SFA website.…

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Caring for our Mental Health

At an event I attended before Thanksgiving, the topic came up about farmers and mental health. This is such an important topic and one that is not talked about enough! It is imperative that all farmers spend time taking care of their physical health and mental health. There has always been a stigma around this…

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Pioneering 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…

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We met our match! Thank you!

We are so grateful to the nearly 60 donors who made a gift to SFA during our Give to the Max campaign this month. We not only met our $5,000 match, but as we tally all of the donations, membership renewals and checks that are coming in, we’re rounding the bend on our $15,000 goal.…

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