Ear to the Ground 294: Rootless Regeneration

These beginning farmers are accessing land without owning it — one megawatt at a time.

More Information

• LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course
• Farm Beginnings in other Regions: the Farm Beginnings Collaborative
• Land Stewardship Letter article on Josie Trople & Arlo Hark
• Fresh Voices: the Ear to the Ground podcast series on beginning farmers

You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms.

**Josie Trople and Arlo Hark’s sheep graze at a solar array owned by a company in southeastern Minnesota.**

Upcoming Events

December 2025

Thursday December 4

9:30 am – 1:30 pm: Using the Haney Test to Cut Fertilizer Use Without Sacrificing Yield
Thursday December 4
9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Using the Haney Test to Cut Fertilizer Use Without Sacrificing Yield
118 Bissen St, Caledonia, MN 55921, USA
This workshop will focus on how soil testing can help reduce fertility costs and increase a farmer’s return on investment. Presenters include Grant Wells, Conner Shaw, Tucker Garrigan, and Emily Jopp. For more information, contact Myron Sylling at 507-459-7792.

Friday December 5

5:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Multi-Generational Farm Transition Retreat: Marshall

Friday December 5

5:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Multi-Generational Farm Transition Retreat: Marshall

Merit Center, 1001 Erie Rd, Marshall, MN 56258, USA

Join U of M Extension for hands-on planning and discussion on farm transition for the whole farm family. All generations actively involved in the farm should attend the retreat together, including spouses, partners and other relevant parties.

The farm transition program helps farm families dive deeper into conversations about:

Family and business goals
Job responsibilities
Financial needs of farms and families
Inheritance considerations
Mechanisms of transfer

For details and to register, click here.

Wednesday December 10

9:00 am – 11:30 am

Organic Fruit Growers Climate Resilience Workshop

Wednesday December 10

9:00 am – 11:30 am

Organic Fruit Growers Climate Resilience Workshop

Zoom online

In December and January, the Organic Fruit Growers Association is offering a series of climate resilience workshops. Workshop goals are to learn about the changing climate in our region and the expected impacts on fruit farmers and to select climate resilience practices which are suited to your farm’s goals and values. The outcome of the workshops will be a written climate resilience plan with actionable steps to make your farm more resilient to changing climate.

Workshops will be led by University of Minnesota extension educators Katie Black and Madeline Wimmer and include times for farmer-to-farmer discussion. This series includes the following four meetings. Expect to spend an additional 4-10 hours outside the meetings developing your farm’s climate resilience plan:

Wednesday Dec. 3, 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (online via Zoom)
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (online via Zoom)
Monday, Dec. 22, discussion (online via Zoom — optional but encouraged)
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (in-person workshop in La Crosse, Wis. Lunch provided, and you can be reimbursed for mileage traveling to and from the meeting.)

For details and to register, click here.

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

How to Make Your Farm's Website Convert Visitors to Customers

Wednesday December 10

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

How to Make Your Farm's Website Convert Visitors to Customers

Zoom Online

Join Sarah Carroll of Greener Pastures and Michelle M Sharp of Meet the Minnesota Makers in this 90-minute virtual workshop to learn about what your business website needs to tell its story, engage customers, and turn visits into real sales.

This workshop lays out the essential components of a user-friendly website for direct-to-consumer farms or food producers. No prior website skills are required.

Topics covered:

• How to make your products searchable by customers.

• What makes a compelling About Me page.

• The right balance of images to text.

• How to engage customers right from your home page.

• Incorporating FAQs.

Who this training is for:

This workshop is ideal for the farm or ag business that has launched an initial website that’s ready to upgrade or for the farm that has not yet created its own website. This workshop is both for farmers/food producers and ag ecosystem professionals that support farmers/food producers in their marketing and website efforts.

For details and to register, click here.

Thursday December 18

All Day

MDA Urban Farm Conservation Mini-grant Deadline

Thursday December 18

MDA Urban Farm Conservation Mini-grant Deadline

MDA

A grant opportunity for urban farmers in Minnesota to receive up to $5,000 to make conservation-focused improvements is now open for applications.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is once again offering an Urban Farm Conservation Mini-grant with approximately $100,000 available, thanks to funding from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. This year the program has expanded eligibility.

Who is eligible:

Entities commercially farming in Minnesota, meaning they sell or donate at least $1,000 of what they produce.
Farm applicants must be located in or selling into a city with a population over 5,000 people, or be located within the boundaries of federally recognized tribal land in Minnesota and serve tribal community members.

The grant offers up to $5,000 per approved recipient which can be used to cover a variety of tools, supplies, services, and other expenses related to improving their urban farm.

Eligible projects include irrigation infrastructure improvements, tools and amendments for improving soil health, composting infrastructure, specialty crop rotation equipment and many other farm improvements which generate conservation outcomes.

Up to 100% of the total project costs may be covered by the grant, and a cash match is not required. Grantees will need to pay for eligible expenses up front and then request reimbursement, using proof of purchase and proof of payment.

An informational session will take place online at 1 p.m. on November 20 and registration is required. Language interpretation services may be requested for the information session by contacting Emily Toner at emily.toner@state.mn.us.

This is a competitive grant program and applications must be submitted by December 18.

Visit the Urban Farm Conservation Grant web page for more information on its application. The Request for Proposals is available for download in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali.

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