ALEXANDRIA, Minn. — The Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) invites farmers, ranchers, ag professionals, researchers and hungry learners to attend the Midwest Soil Health Summit on March 8-9, 2023, at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Minn.
Now in its tenth year, the Midwest’s original soil health event will feature presentations and engaging discussions with ‘soil health mavericks’ — farmers and researchers here in Minnesota, and beyond.
“This year’s Summit brings a few of the original pioneers of the soil health movement, or ‘mavericks’, together,” says Jonathan Kilpatrick, a resident of Alexandria and SFA’s Soil Health Specialist. “I’m excited for them to share their wisdom and pioneering spirit with us as we look to the future and the impact that the soil health movement will have on our environment, food, and health.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Elaine Ingham, an internationally acclaimed soil microbiologist, is passionate about empowering people to bring soils back to life. On the second day of the Summit, Dr. Ingham will explore how farmers can regenerate soil in lieu of the more conventional practices that actually inhibit biological communities. In a second presentation, she will get granular with observations and data on succession, F:B rations, and micronutrients.
Dave Brandt, Ohio row crop farmer and wholesome meme star, will wrap the Summit with his experience in using soil health to improve a farm’s bottom line. A true soil health pioneer, Brandt was one of the first farmers to implement soil health practices into a commodity row crop farm — back in the 1970’s.
The full speaker slate and program is available at https://sfa-mn.org/midwest-soil-health-summit.
Perennial Favorites
“A farmer is a farmer’s best teacher” has been SFA’s philosophy for over 30 years. In addition to farmer speakers, each day of the summit features a panel session of four Minnesota farmers. The farmers on this year’s panels represent an array of Minnesota agriculture — commodity crops, organic, cattle, and dairy, to name a few enterprises.
The ever popular discussion table sessions are making their return to the program. These roundtables provide opportunities on each day for attendees and speakers to put their heads together on pre-selected topics and get some answers to burning questions. Guests can look forward to chatting with resident experts on custom grazing, organic and grazing dairies, sheep and goats, soil testing, interseeding cover crops and more.
Registration
Two-day registration for the Summit is available for $200, and $150 for members of SFA.
“As a farmer who has also been the Event Manager for the Midwest Soil Health summit since its inception ten years ago, I have learned so much that I’ve been able to apply to my own farm operation,” says Jerry Ford. “It’s where the latest in soil science combine with the farmers who are actually doing it.”
More information and registration is available at https://sfa-mn.org/midwest-soil-health-summit.
Location:Â Holiday Inn, 5637 MN-29 S Alexandria, MN 56308
Mission: The Sustainable Farming Association advances environmental stewardship, economic resilience and strong, diverse communities through farmer-to-farmer networking, education, demonstration and research.
— Sustainable Farming Association
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