JOIN US FOR THE

2024 NACD SUMMER FORUM & CONSERVATION TOURS

Don't forget to secure your spot at NACD's 2024 Summer Conservation Forum & Tours by registering today! Hosted this year in conjunction with the Northeast Region Meeting, the NACD Summer Meeting will be held in Boston, Massachusetts this August 9-14.

Early bird registration is only open for a limited time, so don't delay. Save $50 per person by registering now!

Hotel rooms in the NACD room block are also now available to reserve at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. Room rates start at $255/night. Rooms in NACD’s room block are first come, first served and there may be limited or no availability as the deadline for the room block nears. The last day to reserve available rooms in the room block is Friday, July 19.

Experience Boston with us by joining the tours! Included in the cost of registration are an Urban Agriculture and Conservation Tour on Monday that will explore urban agriculture in downtown Boston and an Agriculture Conservation Tour on Tuesday that will explore agricultural education, aquaculture, and more.

Looking to add more fun to your meeting experience? Join us at the Boston Red Sox game on Friday, August 9. Meet up with colleagues at historic Fenway Park and enjoy watching the Sox play ball with the Houston Astros. NACD has reserved 100 seats in the bleachers above the visitor's bullpen for Summer Meeting attendees to enjoy the game while socializing with conservation colleagues from across the country. Tickets are available for purchase when registering.

Learn more about the Summer Meeting, see the agenda, and reserve your spot amongst the action now!

JOIN NFU'S BEGINNING

FARMER INSTITUTE

The National Farmers Union (NFU) offers the Beginning Farmer Institute, a free, online, 10-week intensive program designed to enhance the health of your farm or ranch business. Open to producers aged 18 and older, this inclusive program welcomes all types and scales of operations.

Cohorts are selected through a competitive application process, and applications are open at www.nfu.org/bfi until July 15.

If accepted, participants will engage in online seminars, network with peers, pursue independent learning activities, and receive one-on-one technical assistance. Those who complete all requirements may be invited to an additional in-person session featuring further training, farm tours, and networking opportunities with Farmers Union leadership.

The program includes weekly online trainings led by business management experts. Participants are expected to watch 30-60 minutes of video trainings each week and join weekly two-hour Q&A sessions with subject-matter experts.

JAPANESE DOCUMENTARY TO HIGHLIGHT SOIL HEALTH PRACTICES IN MINNESOTA

Recently, a Japanese film crew visited Soil Health Champions Richard and Ian Cunningham at the Cunningham Family Farm LLC in Pipestone County, Minnesota, to film a documentary on soil health for NHK, Japan's public TV station. Director Naoki Yonemoto emphasized the global importance of soil health and how events like the Ukraine war impact this vital resource. The crew chose Cunningham Farm for its exemplary soil conservation practices and regenerative methods. The Cunningham's farm, renowned for its Mollisol/Chernozem soils, has been family-run since 1885. The documentary aims to raise awareness about soil health and is expected to air in late 2024 or early 2025.

Yonemoto first heard about Ian and Richard (father and son) as Soil Health Champions who participated in the NACD/Soil Health Institute's project on the Economics of Soil Health Systems. Their local newspaper, the Pipestone County Star, recently published an article sharing the details surrounding the documentary. Click below to read the article.

NOW STREAMING:

ROOTS SO DEEP

A brief review of the docuseries from Beth Mason, NACD North Central Region Representative - giving it five stars!

As I was researching soil health information, I came across a four-part docuseries that looked interesting, "Roots So Deep: You Can See the Devil Down There." It is a project that brings together five pairs of farmers/farms, each pair in the same area, and compares the Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing farms with the conventionally grazed farms.

The videos and interviews really help to tell the story and relay the information uncovered by the scientists and researchers who were involved. They explored many aspects of these farms to get a more complete picture of potential impacts such as animal health, the number and diversity of birds and insects, water holding capacity and infiltration rates, soil temperatures, carbon and nitrogen in the soils, etc. The series also gives a real human perspective of the producers from both management systems - not just the facts, figures, and data - including why they choose to farm the way they do. I believe this series is a great way to explore both the effects of the grazing management systems as well as the human perspective in a real teachable way. The farms in this series were located in Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

The series is available for rent at $20 for all four episodes (one hour each), available for unlimited streaming for an entire month. You can allow others to view the series from your rental, but because it would be purchased on your credit card or debit card, they warn it is best not to loan that login information out as there are other things on their website that could be purchased.

From the trailer:

"Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there)” is a 4-part documentary series all about inventive farmers and maverick scientists building a path to solving climate change with hooves, heart and soil. Can a novel way to graze cattle, that mimics the way bison once roamed the land, help get farmers out of debt, restore our depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitat and draw down huge amounts of carbon? Cattle have been seen as eco-villains for a long time. What if they can help save us from catastrophic climate change? “Roots So Deep” is guided by director and wrangler of scientists Peter Byck as he meets farmers on both sides of the fence – the folks practicing a new way to graze, and their neighbors set in their family’s old style of doing things. Byck’s team of outcast scientists are measuring what’s happening on both sides of the fences – exploring if this new, adaptive grazing could help slow down climate change. And one question looms over the whole series: even if the science shows that the new way to graze is better for the land and the farmers’ pocket books, will the old school farmers change, will they adopt the new methods? Will they evolve into climate heroes? Will they save our friggin’ asses from the impending climate catastrophe?

*This is not a sponsored promotion, just a personal review and recommendation. All graphics are property of the Roots So Deep docuseries.

SARE SEEKS IDEAS TO IMPROVE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE OUTREACH

Do you have an idea for an educational product or outreach initiative that could help farmers or ranchers improve their profitability, environmental stewardship and quality of life? Maybe a suggestion for filling an information gap that is hindering the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices? If so, SARE wants to hear from you!

SARE Outreach is seeking recommendations for information products or outreach initiatives that extend research-based sustainable innovations to improve the sustainability of American agriculture. Please submit your ideas using the link below.

Previous SARE Outreach projects have included:

• Books, bulletins and factsheets exploring the principles of sustainable agriculture
• Videos demonstrating sustainable practices at work 
• Outreach initiatives that extend SARE funded research results to a national audience

Submissions should address the following criteria:

• Advances sustainable innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life in agriculture
• Extends SARE-funded research that addresses a critical information gap
• Serves the needs of farmers, ranchers and/or agricultural educators at the national or transregional level

The deadline for submissions was June 15, but the survey still remains open if you have any submission to enter.

SUMMERTIME OUTREACH

We're always on the lookout for soil health outreach ideas in local communities to get more folks engaged in conservation and the soil health conversation. Soil Health Champion Kirsten Robertson from South Carolina shared some of their summer outreach events in cooperation with the local farmers market, Travelers Rest Farmers Market (TRMS). Robertson is not only a local producer, but she also works for her local conservation district. So at these events, she's wearing two hats.

On June 18, the Summer Gardens Night, Robertson says attendance is made up of one-third neighbors, one-third producers for the market and one third farmers market board members. At this event, she conducted soil health demos for attendees at the beer and wine tasting room.

On July 16, the farmers market Movie Night is going to show the film Kiss the Ground - a film about regenerative agriculture, climate change, and the human component. At this event, attendees can buy drinks while the Greenville Soil and Water Conservation District will supply the popcorn through a farmers market vendor.

What are YOUR summer plans?