A quarterly publication of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota the The Best in Grazing at ... Grazefest Minnesota 2008 by Mary Jo Forbord Grass based dairying is the focus of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota’s Grazefest Minnesota 2008™ on Friday and Saturday, August 1-2, rural Verndale, MN. Grazefest starts on Friday August 1, at 9:00 a.m. at MiddMinn Dairy. Host farm families are Dan & Rosie Middendorf of MiddMinn Dairy and Kent and Linda Solberg of Seven Pines Dairy. Joel McNair, editor/publisher of Graze magazine, is the keynote speaker. Farmers and other distinguished experts will speak on starting a grass-based dairy, low cost parlor design, New Zealand style swing parlors, low-cost/low-labor dairying, selling your carbon credits, pastured egg production, forage production and economics, irrigated pastures and pasture tours. Featured speakers include Dan Middendorf, Kent Solberg, Linda Solberg, Ron Monson, and Tim Anderson, and University of Minnesota experts Dean Current, Craig Schaeffer, and Dennis Johnson. Working parlor demonstrations on select dairy farms run from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. A concurrent evening program at England Prairie south of Verndale, MN starts at 4:30 p.m. with a reception in the indoor exhibit area. The evening program at England Prairie will include an interactive discussion focusing on current “hot-button” issues in grazing, and feature grazing specialists John Zinn, Lance Smith, Mark Hayek, Wayne Monsen, and grazing consultant Howard Moechnig. The evening will include plenty of grazing information, exhibits, Grazefest continued on page 22 Inside ... Minnesota Garlic Festival CornerPost Saturday, August 16th • Howard Lake, MN Summer 2008 ...read more on page 10! Number 58 N u m b e r 5 8 : : The CornerPost Working Lands continued from page 8 collaborate, set goals, strategize, and implement practices. They may also sponsor field days and workshops to share information and demonstrate practices. Achieving conservation goals while providing opportunities for livestock producers has generated considerable interest. If you are contemplating improvements in your grazing infrastructure and practices, Working Lands may provide the boost you need to achieve your goals. Just be aware that Working Lands is far from a “program in a can”, so asking for the list of standard rules won’t be very useful. Instead, be ready to roll up your sleeves, join a team in your area, share your vision and goals, and help steer Working Lands to achieve its greatest potential in your community. To find out more about the Working Lands Initiative trailblazing approach, contact Wayne Edgerton, MN Dept. of Natural Resources, 651-259-5224 or Mary Jo Forbord, 320-760-8732. publisher Sustainable Farming Association Do you need to renew? of Minnesota Membership in the SFA of MN entitles you to receive _______________ the CornerPost Newsletter, one complimentary 1/8 page ad in the CornerPost per year and discounts executive director on SFA Events. Use the form on page 24 Mary Jo Forbord or go to www.sfa-mn.org and join or _______________ renew your membership today! editing, design & layout Anne Borgendale _______________ printing More mileage per CP Quinco Press Inc. Before recycling the CornerPost, please leave your copy CornerPost 411 Elm Street --- Box 146 at your place of worship, in a doctor’s waiting room, Lowry, MN 56349 your workplace, your co-op, a place of business, or with a friend or relative. Be a part of spreading The CornerPost newsletter is published quarterly. For editorial submissions the good news about sustinable agriculture or advertisements, contact Anne while helping to conserve our resources. Borgendale, Communications Consultant, at the address below. Articles, ideas, and information published in the Become a CP Sponsor CornerPost do not indicate a consensus among Are you interested in strengthening the development of the members of the Sustainable Farming Asso- sustainable agriculture in Minnesota? Supporting the ciation of Minnesota. For editorial submissions, questions, and comments, please contact: Anne SFA’s quarterly newsletter is a way for you, your business Borgendale, Communications Consultant, Sustain- or organization to become active in the cause. We will able Farming Association of Minnesota, 5663 W acknowledge your sponsorship in CornerPost by providing Bavarian Pass, Fridley, MN 5543, phone: 30- description and contact information unless you prefer that 226-6318; email: [email protected]; your sponsorship remain anonymous - we will honor your www.sfa-mn.org. wishes. Please call Mary JoForbord at (320) 760-8732 to Number 58 ~ Summer 2008 discuss your sponsorship opportunities. Thank you! : : Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota www.sfa-mn.org The CornerPost : : Summer 2008 Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota Chapters .... there’s one near you! Chapters are active in many interesting events year round. Call the chapter contact for more information, or visit our website at www.sfa-mn.org. Chapter cannon river/ south central hiawatha valley Jim Tjepkema Updates Kathy Zeman Box 128 9800 155th St East Clarks Grove, MN 56016 Nerstrand, MN 55053 (507) 256-4876 (507) 664-9446 [email protected] [email protected] Crow River Chapter southeast central Edgar Hansgen By Greg Reynolds Sue Peterson 18158 Co Rd 39 Box 34 St. Charles, MN 55972 On Saturday, June 7th we hosted the first ever canoe trip Foley, MN 56329 (507) 932-4219 (320) 355-2980 [email protected] farm tour. I’m not sure where the idea came from, but it was [email protected] great. The trip started at Crow Springs Park where we fed western the mosquitoes for a while waiting for people to arrive and coteau ridge Jim VanDerPol get their boats in the water. There was plenty of water due to Don DeWeerd 4077 110th Ave NE the recent rains. No chainsaws were required. The weather 1826 70th Avenue Kerkhoven, MN 56252 was perfect. Pipestone, MN 56164 (320) 367-2061 Twenty-four people made the trip. It was a different group [email protected] [email protected] than we usually get on our farm tours. There were people (507) 825-2077 from Harvest Moon Co-op in Long Lake, MN, folks who are executive state board: starting an organic farm near Watertown, MN, some people crow river Joel Rosen, Chair who found the SFA website online, a University of Minnesota Greg Reynolds 5405 Calder Ave SE [email protected] Extension educator, a Master Gardener, etc. There were also (218) 389-3306 4-5 kids who went along on the trip. Diane Sander from Delano, MN 55328 (763) 972-3295 Jerry Ford, Vice Chair Crow River Organization of Waters and Kerry Saxton, Wright [email protected] [email protected] County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), canoed with us and talked about wild parsnip moving into the (320) 543-3394 lake agassiz area, cleaning up the Crow River, feedlot issues, river bank Denise Hemreck Mary Hanks, Secretary erosion, septic system and drain tile problems, sediment and 22589 300th Ave NW [email protected] nutrient loads. We weren’t even off the water and people Warren, MN 56762 (651) 201-6277 were making plans for a longer trip next year. (218) 289-0835 When we arrived at Nature’s Nest, Cathy Rose’s farm. [email protected] Chris Barnier, Treasurer Mary Jane Miller and her daughter Rachel had a spectacular [email protected] local foods lunch laid out for us. The chicken salad was made lake superior (320) 632-4691 Joel Rosen with chicken from Prairie Produce, the bread was from the Collegeville Artisan Bakery, Mary Jane provided the rhubarb, PO Box 307 Mary Jo Forbord Carlton, MN 55718 berries, herbs, and the skill to make such a meal, Jerry Ford Executive Director (218) 389-3306 29731 302nd St and Marienne Kreitlow supplied mint, garlic and asparagus, [email protected] and Dennis Ingle provided vinegar. Mary Schmidt and River Starbuck, MN 56381 (320) 760-8732 Bend Farm (my place) supplied the lettuce and radishes. (866) 760-8732 toll-free Crow River continued on page 4 [email protected] www.sfa-mn.org Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota :: 3 N u m b e r 5 8 : : The CornerPost Crow River continued from page 3 Minnesota Garlic Festival at the Wright County Fairgrounds Local eggs, milk, butter, cheese, herbs, honey, potatoes, wild in Howard Lake, MN on Saturday., August 16th from 10:00 mushrooms, and (beet) sugar were also used. Canoeing a.m. until 7:00 p.m. We’ll see you there. would be a lot more popular if shore lunches like this were always available. After lunch we walked over to River Bend Farm and everyone got to hear about crop rotations, cover crop strategies, and all the details of growing vegetables on a small scale. One of the new things this year is planting Western Chapter pumpkins into crimped rye cover crop. It will be interesting to see if it works, or is just a weedy mess. The Western Chapter of the Sustainable Farming As- Jerry called ‘time’ after about an hour and we went back sociation of Minnesota (SFA) is hosting the second in its over to Cathy’s for a tour of her farm. Cathy has an organic series of “Farm Tour Fridays” on Friday, July 11th at Jim greenhouse and landscape gardening business. We never & LeeAnn VanDerPol and Josh & Cindy VanDerPol’s even made it to the greenhouses as she concentrated on Pastures A’ Plenty Farm, rural Kerkhoven, MN. The event the agritourism aspect of her farm. Cathy and Don operate kicks off at 6:00 p.m. with a Western Chapter meeting. A a Bed and Breakfast and host an Art Fair and Farmers’ potluck supper will follow at 6:30 p.m. After supper there Market in mid-May (where the Crow River Chapter of SFA will be a farm tour and time for socializing.