Session Descriptions and Speakers

Cindy and Amy will provide a brief introduction to current MN Cottage Food Laws, key food safety issues you need to know, provide resources to take the next steps to becoming a cottage food producer and a few examples of how value added products can increase farm income and resilience. Bring your questions and suggestions to share. As the two newest UMN Extension Food Safety educators, they want to hear from you so they can ensure their program serves your needs!

Biography:

Cindy Hale & Amy Johnston started Jan. 3, 2023 as new statewide Extension educators for Food Safety with U of M Extension. Amy brings experience in institutional food systems & nutrition and is based in the Farmington Regional Office. Cindy brings experience in science education and farming, including a wide range of value-added products (www.clovervalleyfarms.com) and is based in the Cloquet Regional Office. 

Join us as Farm Service Agency, Minnesota Dairy Initiative and UMN Extension share resources on how to build a successful on-farm team. Discussion will also include funding resources that are available to help your farm continue to move forward.

Biographies:

Karen Johnson works as the Livestock Extension educator for Wright, McLeod and Meeker counties. She has worked with the University of Minnesota Extension since 2014. Outside of work, she and her husband have two small children and a dog. She helps with her family's dairy farm near Lester Prairie, MN.

Ellyn Oelfke is the Outreach and Public Affairs Coordinator for the Minnesota Farm Service Agency. She has been with FSA for almost five years, spending time working in both Farm Programs and Farm Loans. Outside of her full-time job, she farms corn, soybeans, beef cattle, cut flowers and pumpkins with her husband in south central Minnesota. She invites you to contact her if you have any questions regarding FSA Programs and Farm Loan options.

Jill Zieroth is the program coordinator for Minnesota Dairy Initative’s South Central Region.  She has been with MDI for over 18 years, and works with dairy farmers to help them explore opportunities for a more successful dairy operation.  She also serves as Secretary/Treasurer for the Carver County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and is a retired dairy farmer. Jill welcomes calls from any dairy farmer interested in working with MDI to help them reach new goals on their farm.

Management is one of the key factors that determine how profitable a farm will be. The Center for Farm Financial Management has created numerous free educational tools to help enhance the financial management and marketing abilities of farmers, along with the professionals who work with them. This session will focus on CFFM tools that assist in farm business planning, business management, and farm financial analysis. Some of the many tools that will be highlighted include AgPlan, AgTransitions, FairRent, and FINBIN.

Biography:

Katherine Wilts Johnson is an Extension economist at the Center for Farm Financial Management in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Katie is motivated to assist farmers in increasing their farm profitability through outstanding farm management practices. She grew up on a crop farm in western Minnesota and is still actively involved on the farm. Katie and her husband also dairy farm. Katie has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and food business management and a master’s degree in applied economics, both from the University of Minnesota. Her graduate research focused on the economic implications of adopting soil health practices on Minnesota row crop farms.

On June 11, 2023 over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotics will no longer be available. Producers will need a valid veterinary-client-patient-relationship (VCPR) to obtain antibiotics. Dr. Joe will discuss the changes and what producers need to know moving forward.

Biography:

Dr. Joe Armstrong received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota - Morris in 2011. He graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. After veterinary school, Joe worked as a private practitioner with beef and dairy farms at Anderson Veterinary Service in Zumbrota, MN. Currently, Dr. Joe is the Cattle Production Systems Extension Educator at the University of Minnesota where he helps beef and dairy operations with the practical application of evidence based medicine and management.

Carbon sequestration and carbon markets are the latest buzz in agriculture, and yet carbon is not an inert substance that goes in the ground and just stays there. It's actively supporting our crops, managing water in the soil, and helps our soil build resiliency towards weather extremes. In this session, Jodi explains soil carbon management, how it persists in agricultural fields, and how a resilient soil impacts our farmers.

Biography:

Jodi DeJong-Hughes has been a regional educator with the University of Minnesota Extension for over 25 years. Her area of specialization includes tillage systems, soil compaction, and improving soil health. Jodi’s work focuses on reducing soil erosion and building soil health to improve the grower’s bottom line and to reduce the movement of soil and nutrients to our natural waterways. She lives on a century farm north of Montevideo with her husband and their youngest daughter.

In this “craptastic” session, we'll discuss the basics of crop fertility and fertilizers as well as manure basics. We'll discuss how to calculate and decide which nutrients to apply and how manure might fit into your crop fertility plan, even without livestock.

Biography:

Chryseis Modderman is a University of Minnesota Extension educator. She is member of the crops team, focusing on manure nutrient management. She is originally from a farm family in west-central Minnesota, and prior to working at UMN, she was a research technician at North Dakota State University.  When she's not elbow-deep in her work, she enjoys time with her family and reading.

The Be Pesticide Smart website is a resource to educate people about pesticides that are utilized in our everyday lives, and to empower consumers to make informed and responsible decisions on the management of pests and pesticides that are essential to public health, safety, and environmental protection. It provides information and resources for consumers about everyday pests and safe practices for pesticide use in homes, yards, and gardens.

Biography:

Linda Johns is the associate director for the Pesticide Safety and Environmental Education Program at the University of Minnesota Extension. She currently resides in Blaine, MN with her husband Alan, their multiple pets, and when available, their children, grandchildren, and great grandchild.

Building resilience is a proven strategy when facing adversity, but what if that adversity isn’t as cut-and-dry as something like a death, a sale, or a financial change? Join us to learn more about building resilience in times when our loss, grief, and stress may feel unclear or unending. Emily and Jenifer will introduce the theory of ambiguous loss, and its applications to agriculture, and share resilience strategies to keep you moving forward, even in the face of the unknown and uncontrollable losses.

Biography:

Emily Krekelberg grew up on her family’s dairy farm near Le Sueur, Minnesota. She works for the University of Minnesota Extension as the Extension educator for Farm Safety & Health. Her work focuses on grain bin safety, livestock safety, tractor safety, farmer mental health and suicide prevention. A passion of Emily’s is advocating for wellness in agriculture. She has a BS in Animal Science and a master’s in Agricultural Education from the University of Minnesota.

Jenifer McGuire is a professor in the Family Social Science Department at the University of Minnesota and an Extension specialist in Family Development. Her research focuses on the health and well-being of transgender youth. Her work in ambiguous loss uses the perspective to examine family relationships with complex patterns of acceptance and rejection around family members’ gender identity and sexual orientation. This collaboration has provided an exciting opportunity to apply ambiguous loss to the struggles of farming families. 

Burnout was prevalent even before it became a common headline in 2020. We must pay attention now more than ever to this issue that is not going away. In this presentation, we'll take a look at the drivers of burnout, factors that can increase our wellbeing, the role organizations play and what you can personally do to spark change.

Biography:

Christy Kallevig, Extension educator for leadership and civic engagement, is a fifth-generation farmer who has a passion for agriculture, those involved in it, and the communities in which we live. Bringing her experience in social work, Christy works to help leaders build emotional intelligence and ways to utilize their strengths in order to serve others. Christy farms alongside her husband, Allan, and daughter, Lily, outside of Sleepy Eye, MN and has worked with Minnesota Agriculture and Rural Leadership (MARL) and a variety of county bridging programs.

Tammy Frericks grew up in Pine River, MN. Since she moved to Stearns County in 2000 she wanted to have a strawberry farm. Tammy and her husband bought the current property they live on in 2016. In 2017 the strawberry roots went in the ground and in 2018 Tammy was selling strawberries to the public. On the farm she has ½ acre of asparagus, currently 6 acres of strawberries, high tunnel of fall raspberries, a high tunnels of crops that she rotates yearly. Tammy also makes and sells strawberry jam, raspberry jam, jalapeno jelly, pickled green beans, pickled asparagus and she offers gift boxes all year around. Tammy loves what she does and seeing the people come to visit the farm. The support from their customers and other farming friends is beyond measure. 

Mary Jo Forbord is a registered dietitian/nutritionist and has worked as Healthy Eating Coordinator at the University of Minnesota, Executive Director of the Sustainable Farming Association, and President of the Minnesota Dietetic Association. Along with her husband, Luverne, she stewards Prairie Horizons Farm in West Central Minnesota, where they rotationally graze cattle and goats and sell grass fed beef, organic fruits and vegetables through their farm store.

 www.prairiehorizonsfarm.com

Kathy Hupf is a retired dairy farmer and an owner of CannonBelles Cheese - a family friendly award-winning artisan cheese company with a passion for dairy and bringing wonderful flavors to your family table. They also own CannonBelles Coffee and Ice Cream in beautiful downtown Cannon Falls, MN.