Morning Keynote: Martin Larsen
Martin Larsen is a fifth-generation farmer who raises corn, soybeans, and oats on 1,400 acres (about twice the area of Central Park in New York City) near Byron, Minn. Martin also works for the Olmsted County Soil and Water Conservation District, where he has done research on cover crops and nitrate reduction in local waterways. His farm goals include building enough profitability to hand the operation down to his son, increasing sustainability, fortifying conservation stewardship, reducing nitrate runoff and increasing carbon sequestration, and diversification.
Afternoon Keynote: Landon Plagge
Landon Plagge holds 30 years of hands-on farming experience, growing corn, soybeans, livestock, and oats, as well as managing a grain handling facility, through which he stewards one million bushels of grain annually. Landon studied investment banking at Bentley College and holds a degree in business administration from the University of Northern Iowa. He also recently founded Green Acres Milling, a farmer-owned oat processing facility being built in Albert Lea, Minn. Landon brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in sustainable farming practices and crop rotations and frequently shares his experiences to help others improve their own practices.
Breakout Session Speakers:
Matt Kruger
Matt lives in Pine Island, Minn., on an 80-acre farm with his wife, Maggie, and 1-year-old, Lyle. In 2025, Matt raised sunflowers, oats, and corn. They also rotationally graze 30 beef cow-calf pairs. Matt is the Director of Strategy and Development at Green Acres Milling where he works with the farmer-owner investors on procurement and with food companies on sales. Prior to joining Green Acres Milling, he spent eight years at Land O’Lakes working with food companies and farmers on low emissions grain production.
John Strohfus
John Strohfus is the Founder and CEO of Minnesota Hemp Farms, Inc. (doing business as Field Theory Foods), based in Hastings, Minn. He is a farmer and marketer of food ingredient products in bulk wholesale channels as well as the retail brand Field Theory. John is a graduate of Saint Cloud State University with a bachelor of science degree in marketing and a minor in information technology. Prior to founding Minnesota Hemp Farms and Field Theory, he spent 19 years in business working for the technology consulting company Accenture.
John has been involved in agriculture his entire life and comes from a small farm operation raising American Quarter Horses, beef cattle, alfalfa, corn, soybeans, and sunflowers, plus other specialty crops. Since 2016, he has also raised hemp. Since 2016, John has helped build out the supply chain logistics for hemp in the U.S. food market. He enjoys working with farmers of all types to create unique value-add direct markets for their production.
James Hepp
James Hepp is a native of Rockwell City, Iowa. Hepp attended Northwest Missouri State University, where he earned a degree in agricultural business and started his career as a crop insurance adjuster after graduation.
In 2019, the opportunity to work with a high school friend’s father, who was nearing retirement, led to a crop-share arrangement and opened the door for Hepp to farm full time. At the same time, Hepp started up his own crop insurance agency. Hepp now manages about 1,400 acres of corn, soybeans, and small grains as a first-generation farmer. Hepp also runs an ag retail business selling regenerative products he uses on his acres. With support from his landlord, Hepp incorporates a wide range of conservation and soil-health building practices on his acres, including cover crops, buffer strips, no-till, strip-till, split-applied nitrogen, variable rate seeding, and much more.
Hepp serves as a local Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner and is passionate about showing others how to implement conservation practices that protect soil and water quality through field days held annually on his farm. He is also involved in the local fire department and is a past president of the Calhoun County Farm Bureau.
Al Jostock
Al Jostock farms 220 acres near Hammond, Minn., as Roling J Farm. He and his family raise beef cattle and hogs alongside their crop operation, which includes corn, soybeans, small grains, and alfalfa. Roling J Farm uses reduced no-tillage systems and cover crops as part of the management system.
Al attended Riverside Community College and received a farm business management degree. He is currently on the advisory board for the college. Al is also a member of LSP’s Soil Health Steering Committee. Both Al and his wife, Betsy, are Hammond City Council members and Al serves as Hammond’s Water Superintendent. The Jostock family was honored in 2025 with the Wabasha County Outstanding Conservationist award.
Tom Finnegan
Tom Finnegan and his wife, Kimber, farm near Austin, Minn. They operate a cow-calf operation and finish their cattle out for their pasture-to-plate beef business. They also raise a variety of cash crops, including corn, soybeans, green peas, alfalfa, sunflowers, and small grains. They utilize cover crops on all crop acres to build soil health and improve water quality. They have also implemented minimum tillage practices to improve soil health. Their farm goals are to minimize commercial inputs everywhere possible, and they believe in livestock integration to fertilize and utilize all cover crops to support the soil biology.
