Training on the Ground Support for Transitioning and Organic Farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin

Organic standards emphasize protecting and improving the natural resources of agricultural land. Fortunately, there are many conservation programs farmers can tap for either technical assistance, financial support, or both to achieve their goals. These programs can support a wide variety of conservation efforts, such as creating wildlife and pollinator habitat or addressing erosion and water quality issues. There is even a program that repays farmers for the services of a planner who can help write a farm's organic transition plan and guide the farmer through the process. Unfortunately, many farmers aren't aware of the help that's available. This class aimed to change that.

Participants heard from Brian Pillsbury, who has worked with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for 22 years; Karin Jokela, an organic farmer and a pollinator conservation planner with the Xerces Society; Chuck Anderas, a MOSES organic specialist who has been working with NRCS agents to explain organic production and farmers' support needs; and, Mark Doudlah, an organic farmer who used several conservation programs as he transitioned his Wisconsin farm to organic production.

This class provided the details farmers and agricultural professionals need to pair these valuable programs with the work they do on the land for those transitioning to organic, wanting to improve their existing organic farm, or working with farmers to implement conservation practices.

Originally planned as an in-person field day, we pivoted to virtual events and resources due to COVID-19. MOSES staff Chuck Anderas interviewed Paul Dietmann from Compeer Financial and Jon Jovaag, a farmer near Austin, MN for a podcast episode leading up to the virtual field day. The episode covered how to think through cash flow versus profitability during the transition years, what crops to use in an organic grain rotation rotation, and the reasons why farmers transition to organic. That podcast episode was followed by a virtual field day in which both Paul Dietmann and Jon and Ruth Jovaag delved deeper into organic grain transition.

Originally planned as an in-person field day, we pivoted to virtual events and resources due to COVID-19. MOSES staff Chuck Anderas interviewed Dr. Jon Winsten from Winrock International and organic dairy farmers Thelma Heidel-Baker and Ricky Baker for two podcast episodes. Dr. Winsten outlined three key metrics to look at when considering a dairy farm’s financial viability: feed efficiency, labor efficiency, and capital efficiency. Then, Thelma and Ricky listened to the podcast, and Chuck Anderas interviewed them about how it applies to their farming operation. The podcasts were followed by a virtual field day featuring videos and pictures from Thelma and Ricky's farm. They shared how they manage their grass-based, organic operation, covering pasture care, conservation practices, and organic livestock health. Dr. Jon Winsten went into more detail on the economics of grazing and shared financial case studies from Upper Midwest dairy farms—from confinement operations to pasture-based farms.

MOSES Organic Farmers of the Year, Jane Hawley Stevens and David Stevens, showcased a variety of herbs they grow on their farm and discussed their many medicinal uses, especially focusing on immunity boosting herbs. They discussed production, harvest, and drying techniques.

Farmer and educator Mhonpaj Lee, the first certified organic Hmong farmer in Minnesota, shared her expertise and experience funding, building, and using high tunnels to grow vegetables. Leading up the the virtual farm tour, Mhonpaj Lee recorded a 6-part series guiding farmers through six key elements of high tunnels: resources for building a high tunnel, advice for building a high tunnel, raising seedlings in high tunnels, growing vegetables in the ground, working with the USDA to fund a high tunnel through NRCS EQIP, and the business management of high tunnels.

The video interviews were followed by a live, virtual farm tour. It was interpreted live into Spanish and Hmong. Before talking through production topics on the farm, we also had two guest speakers from the USDA to share about about NRCS and FSA support for high tunnels. John Sippl shared about NRCS EQIP funding and technical support, and Heather Kirkpatrick from FSA shared on eligibility requirements. The recordings from the event are available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

See the High Tunnel playlist on the MOSES YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDbgVNKGiK8soBkeWsbDDm47r0Allule5

Farmers Hannah Breckbill and Emily Fagan gave a tour of their unique CSA farm. Humble Hands Harvest is located on 22 acres northeast of Decorah, and over the past five years has converted conventional cropland to a highly diverse, worker-owned farm with perennial crops as well as organic vegetables, grass-fed lamb, and pastured pork. This field day explored the various systems on the farm, including a SARE-funded no-till project, livestock rotations, and the system of worker-ownership and community engagement that has allowed Humble Hands Harvest to thrive.

The field day was preceded by a podcast episode focusing on the cooperative ownership of the farm. A video was produced from the field day called "Cooperative Land Access & the Commons."

We hosted a silvopasture-pollinator field day at Mary Dirty Face Farm, co-hosted with the Xerces Society. Farm host Rachel Henderson and Xerces pollinator specialist Sarah Foltz Jordan discussed habitat value both in terms of forage and shade for livestock and food and nesting for pollinators, especially specialist bees, butterflies, and moths that require certain tree and shrub species to survive. Silviculture Matt Wilson from the Savanna Institute provided additional guidance on habitat design, installation, and weed management.

Rachel Henderson explained to the group how a SARE grant, with help from the Xerces Society, and the NRCS helped to fund the new silvopasture installation. All trees and shrubs that were planted were native species, including basswood, shag bark hickory, and service (June) berries. 

While modern agriculture has well-defined boundaries between forest and pasture, systems that integrate trees, livestock, and forages have a long and storied past. Silvopasture systems are productive while also sequestering carbon in the landscape and providing climate resiliency for farmers. This workshop explored historical narratives, strategies to convert woodlands and add trees to pasture, and offered a range of starting points for farmers looking to bring trees into their grazing systems.

The class was taught by Steve Gabriel. Steve is an ecologist, forest farmer, and educator living in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State in the US. Throughout his career, Steve has taught thousands of farmers and land managers about the ways farming and forestry can be combined to both benefit the ecology and the bottom line of the farm. He is Agroforestry Extension Specialist for the Cornell Small Farm Program and has served as guest faculty at Cornell University, Sterling College, Paul Smiths College, and the Omega Center for Sustainable Living.

Alongside his wife, Elizabeth, he co-stewards Wellspring Forest Farm, where they produce mushrooms, maple syrup, duck eggs, pastured lamb, and elderberry extract, all from forest-based systems.
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Steve co-authored Farming the Woods with Ken Mudge in 2014, and is author of the new book Silvopasture, released in 2018. He passionately pursues work to reconnect people to the forested landscape and see the value of trees and forests as an essential part of a regenerative future.

We also awarded 22 scholarships to agricultural professionals to attend the Organic University of their choice.

Oxheart Farm in Wisconsin is in their 10th season in production. They raise vegetables for 75 CSA members who all pick up on the farm through our free-choice, market-style CSA from April-December. They rotationally graze pigs, laying hens, beef cattle, and four dairy cows which they milk for  on-farm Grade A Dairy plant. Most of the eggs, meat, milk and yogurt they produce are sold through the CSA, and theyalso sell the dairy through a couple small wholesale channels. They also cultivate small amounts of cut flowers and shiitake mushrooms as well. Their farming model is built on a belief in diversity, small-scale production, self reliance, and minimal inputs. They follow organic practices in all of our enterprises, though we are not certified organic. 

Field day description: We will share our story of how we started our small, rotationally grazed dairy cow herd and our on-farm, Grade A creamery. This field day will include a tour of our silvopastures, our seasonal milking parlor, and our Grade A dairy plant. We will discuss how the creamery fits into the bigger picture of our farm and business; how we have incorporated the cows and their milk into our ecosystem and CSA model, respectively. We'll also cover direct marketing, navigating the regulatory process for starting a dairy plant, and answer any questions about starting and running this enterprise. 

We had the privilege to tour two incredible agricultural sites of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in the Cloquet, Minnesota area this past August. Gitigaaning, which means “the place of the gardens” in the Ojibwe language, is a 36- acre farm with a growing dome, orchard, berry patch, pollinator plantings, and 4-acres open to the growers of the Bimaaji'idiwin Producer Training Program. Three of the farm’s producers were able to share their stories and talk about the important role the farm plays in their community. We were also able to visit two local lakes and learned about manoomin (wild rice) and the importance of treaties in tribal food sovereignty, including the management, production, and marketing aspects of manoomin. In addition we learned about ancestral woodland management techniques which also support wild blueberry production. We were also able to tour Na'eniminigamig, a cannery building with a root cellar, seed room, and commercial kitchen. 

We joined one of our own Marbleseed Specialist, Naima Dhore, and her husband Fagas Salah, at Naima’s Farm in Alexandria, Minn. for an inspiring field day addressing the challenges and triumphs of starting up a first-generation farm. Originally settling in the Twin Cities metropolitan region from Somalia, land access was a big hurdle for them to overcome. Through a creative land lease out in Alexandria this was overcome. We had the opportunity to tour Fagas and Naima’s expanding vegetable operation and learn about how they were able to install needed infrastructure - high tunnels and a well - through the NRCS cost-share program, as well as a very needed deer fence, purchased with a grant from Lakewinds Co-op.