Big Bulbs, Big Crowds at Minnesota Garlic Festival
They came from all corners of the state, over 3,000 of them, and they all went home stinky.
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At least that’s the early report from the 2016 Minnesota Garlic Festival, held Aug. 13 at the McLeod County Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, where Best in Show went to garlic grower Randy Deones with a 173-gram bulb. The largest bulb was grown by Mike Coffman of Coffman Farms, who produced a whopper at 183 grams.
One of the most popular events at the Garlic Fest (after the garlic, food, drink, and demos) is the kite-building. Kids of all ages get to design, build and fly their own kites, as evidenced by the photo at right.
Thanks to all who attended, volunteered, cooked, promenaded, or otherwise had a hand in the 2016 Minnesota Garlic Festival. For more recap, photos, results and more, visit SFA’s Garlic Festival homepage: sfa-mn.org/garlicfest.
'Dirt Rich' Provides Hands-On Soil Bonanza
SFA hosted a two-day event featuring Dr. Allen Williams, “Dirt Rich: Building Soil Health Experts,” Aug. 16 in Redwood Falls and Aug. 17 in Marshall, where attendees spent time with soil health experts digging deeper into soil health opportunities, challenges, and monitoring.
The Aug. 16 program included a trip to the award-winning Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz farm (above) to view implementation of a complex cover crop blend and integration of livestock into a cropping system, as well as reviewing soil health monitoring tools and complex cover crop blend seeding (Photo courtesy Karl Hakanson).
The Aug. 17 program included a trip to the Allen Deutz farm (right) reviewing his work with cover crops and livestock integration, as well as innovative fencing techniques to provide livestock access to crop land.
The event was sponsored by The Pasture Project and NCR-SARE as well as Prairie Creek Seed and Albert Lea Seed.
For more photos from SFA events like this, visit our Facebook page or our Soil Health Events Archive.
- ALSO: Dr. Williams is scheduled to again appear at our 2017 Midwest Soil Health Summit, which is Feb. 15-16 in Fergus Falls. Registration for the 2017 MSHS will open SOON; keep watching SFA Connect for an announcement.
Central Chapter Meeting, Harvest Dinner Upcoming
SFA Central Chapter is hosting its next meeting from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at StoneBridge Beef, 26668 290th St, Long Prairie. All are welcome for this free event; a farm tour, potluck dinner and member meeting are planned. Bring your ideas for upcoming SFA programming you’d like to see in Central Chapter. Click here to RSVP.
Also, the chapter is co-sponsoring the 7th annual Lakes and Farm Harvest Dinner, set for 5 p.m. Aug. 27 at Sunup Ranch, 12316 County Rd 18 SW, Brainerd. This event includes a farmers market, social hour with cash bar, a local foods dinner, horse-drawn wagon rides, local beer and wine tastings, and more. Tickets are $25 adults and $10 under 15. Info: Cass County Farm Bureau at 218.587.4604 or Judy Wallschlaeger at 218.543.6257.
For more information on these events and SFA Central Chapter, visit its homepage or email central@sfa-mn.org.
Greater Mille Lacs Farm Tour & Foraging is Aug. 28
Greater Mille Lacs Chapter is hosting its August Farm Tour and botanical product-making event from 3 to 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at Ole’s Acres, 38382 Dove St, Aitkin. This event is free and includes a potluck dinner; please RSVP here.
During the farm tour, attendees will forage native plants, then return and make oils, tinctures and salves. Bring small (4 oz.) canning jars to store the finished products.
Info: greatermillelacs@sfa-mn.org or Jodi Olson at jaudette31@gmail.com or 218.927.1435.
2017 Annual Conference Registration, Voting Now Open
Registration is NOW OPEN for the SFA Annual Conference, which is set for Feb. 11, 2017, at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. Click here to register for as little as $35!
Once again, we are using this online voting system to select programming for the SFA Annual Conference Vote on the topics YOU want addressed at the 2017 SFA Annual Conference and enter your topic ideas! The current top 10 vote-getters:
- Year-Round Income Streams on 15 Acres or Fewer
- Time to Call the Butcher: What to Expect, Terminology, and How to Help Customers Navigate the Process of Custom-Ordering
- Fencing Innovations: The Latest and Greatest
- Starting and Managing a Profitable Orchard
- Farming and Soil Health Without Heavy Equipment
- I'm No Good at Marketing My Farm Business: Help Me!
- Soil Restoration
- Deep Winter Greenhouse Producton: Mastering the Three Winter Seasons
- Silvopasture Without Ruining Your Woodlot
- Wintering Livestock
At Patnode Dairy, Winter Rye Makes Nice Extra Crop
A winter rye application at Daryl and Lori Patnode’s dairy farm was in focus at the recent “Three Crops in Two Years” field day, held Aug. 10 at Patnode Dairy in Corcoran as part of SFA’s Soil Health Network event series. A crowd of nearly 30 farmers and ag professionals heard Daryl and son Andrew Patnode discuss their experiences with winter rye and the forage it had produced for their dairy herd; above is the rye residue in a soybean field (photo courtesy Karl Hakanson).
To view photos from this event, visit our Facebook page or our Soil Health Events Archive.
Grazing Cover Crops Main Focus of Organic Dairy Day
Around 60 people attended the recent Organic Dairy Day, held Aug. 9 in Morris as part of SFA’s Soil Health Network event series.
At the event, Dr. Bradley Heins of the U. of M. West Central Research and Outreach Center and Guy Jodarski discussed integrating livestock and cover crops, as well as dairy cattle health. They detailed a project that grazed winter wheat and rye, and discussed the results.
“People were very interested in the idea of grazing winter wheat/rye in early spring and using cover crops for grazing and for improving soil health,” Heins said.
To view photos from this event, visit our Facebook page or our Soil Health Events Archive.
Soil Health Network Event: NEFGC Summer Tour, Sept. 8
Carlton County Extension is hosting its Northeast Minnesota Forage and Grassland Council summer tour from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Bob Durovec farm, 6833 McGonagle Rd in Meadowlands, Minn. This SFA Soil Health Network event is $5 in advance or $15 at the door and includes lunch. To register, click here.
Info: Troy Salzer, salze003@umn.edu.
Soil Health Network Event: Field Day, Sept. 22, Pine City
Wright County Extension, NRCS and Pine County SWCD are co-hosting a free Soil Health & Grazing Field Day from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 22 at Pinederosa, 11131 Lakeview Heights Rd, Pine City. This SFA Soil Health Network event is free, but an RSVP is requested here.
Info: Rod Greder, gred0014@umn.edu or 763.682.7381.
Check This Out
- From John Deere’s “The Furrow” magazine, “Building Soil With Livestock.” Sample quote: “There’s like something in those cover crops that’s like medicine. Cattle just do great on them.”
- From Farm and Ranch Guide, NDSU’s Kris Ringwall says, “In the future, all avenues for additional compensation need to be explored to enhance the economic viability for beef producers and the rural areas associated with beef production. This compensation results in synergistic crop production systems that integrate rotational cropping practices, high-residue management and annual forages.” Read more here.
Annual Conference Photo Feature
Photographer extraordinaire Crystal Liepa once again documented our 2016 Annual Conference, held Feb. 13, 2016, at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. To learn more about Crystal, visit her website.
Also Noted
GLCA Grazing Workshop is Aug. 26-27 in Grand Rapids – The Minnesota Grazing Lands Conservation Association (GLCA), in partnership with the University of Minnesota, is offering a two-day workshop for new or experienced livestock graziers who wish to learn more about the benefits of rotational grazing and management-intensive grazing on Aug. 26-27, 2016 at the U. of M. Extension North Central Research & Outreach Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Registration is online here and space is limited.
Agroforestry Institute Set to Teach Practical Farm Planning – The Minnesota Agroforestry Institute, a three-day training that includes classroom workshops and on-farm visits that teach the concepts integral to a practical farm plan, is Aug. 29-31 in Spicer, Minn. During the workshops, participants will work in small groups to gain hands-on practice in agroforestry design based on the needs of a working farm. Info: U. of M. Extension team homepage.
MDA Accepting Value-Added Grant Applications – The Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture is accepting applications for 2017 value-added grants, which can help farmers take the next step in their food safety or business plan. Value-added is the increase in value of an agricultural product through added processing, marketing, or manufacturing.
Grant applications are available for submission at the MDA Value Added website.
Info: Ann Kuzj, ann.kuzj@state.mn.us or 651.201.6028.
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