Dig in with On-Farm Learning

Join us every summer for on-farm learning at Marbleseed Organic Field Days. Field Days are free and hosted by regenerative and organic farmers across the Upper Midwest who are using innovative organic farming practices and feeding their communities.

From small urban farms and midscale silvopasture operations to larger scale row crops, we aim to offer field days for every type of farm. Come connect with community and get fresh ideas to try on your farm.

Want to host a Field Day? We want to hear from you.

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Crop Rotations on Large-Scale Organic Farm

July 21 | Johnson Farms | Madison, SD

Join 2013 MOSES Farmer of the Year Charlie Johnson and his family for their annual field day and bus tour in South Dakota! This year the importance of good crop rotation management in an organic system will be presented by local NRCS agronomist Eric Barsness. Eric will also speak on grazing practices, and in addition provide a rainfall simulator demonstration, showing how heavy rainfall can impact different soils and how good crop rotations and other management practices contribute to resilient, healthy soil. Oat trials in their fourth year, conducted by SDSU on the Johnson Farm, will also be one of the bus tour stops. Lunch will also be provided.

Hughes Farms Field Day

July 27 | 9:00 am – 2:30 pm| Hughes Farms | Janesville, WI

This field day will highlight the diversity and innovations at the Hughes Farm in Janesville, WI. Farming over 5000 acres in a parallel operation consisting of both conventional and organic practices, the Hughes have succeeded in developing diverse rotations and markets. This field day, in partnership with Marbleseed (formerly known as MOSES), will discuss and showcase the various innovations on the farm related to the diversity of crops included in the crop rotation.

Cover Crops & Vegetable Production on an Incubator Farm Canceled

July 31 | Kilimo MN | Lino Lakes, MN

Join Moses Momanyi as he introduces you to Kilimo Minnesota, a three-to-five-year training program that includes hands-on organic vegetable farming, marketing and sales experience, group classes, networking with other farmers, and one-on-one business mentoring. The program is uniquely situated to give emerging farmers an opportunity to learn vegetable growing techniques and business skills in a new climate, country, and culture. Field day attendees will learn and connect with emerging farmers, walk through their many ¼-acre to 1-acre plots of vegetables, learn about different cultural crops grown alongside the Minnesota crops, and see the various stages of being emerging farmers. This field day is supported by funds from NCR SARE.

Gitigaaning Farm & Manoomin Tour

August 20 | Gitigaaning Farm | Cloquet, MN
Join us for a tour of these two incredible agricultural sites of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa! Visit Perch Lake to learn about manoomin (wild rice) and the importance of treaties in tribal food sovereignty, including the management, production, and marketing aspects of manoomin. 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. The property also houses Na'eniminigamig, a cannery building with a root cellar, seed room, and commercial kitchen. Learn about innovations using traditional Ojibwe knowledge and Indigenous agriculture practices, including wild rice hulls as mulch, as well as food sovereignty projects made possible by collaborations between tribes and federal, state, and local agencies.  This field day is supported by NIFA, USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

First Generation Farm Start-Up

August 27 | Naima’s Farm | Alexandria, MN
This field day will highlight the journey of Naima’s Farm from the beginning to current transition. Both Naima and her husband will share the challenges they both experienced with land access as an immigrant farmer and share more about their expanding farm business. This field day is supported by NIFA, USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

Conservation Walk & Talk

September 10 | Blackbrook Farm | Amery, Wis.
Come and be inspired by a tour of Blackbrook Farm, operated by WiWiC Conservation Coach Ayla Dodge and her husband. Hear and see firsthand how they are overcoming unique challenges presented by their farm’s sandy soils in both their vegetable operation and pasture establishment for the livestock they have integrated into their operation. Ayla will also share how they have worked with the NRCS to implement conservation on their farm by establishing some pollinator habitat and using cover crops.

Urban Growers Collective Farm Tours

September 17 | South Chicago Farm | Chicago, IL
Join the MOSES 2022 Changemaker Award recipients as we tour two of their farms. Urban Growers Collective is a Black-and women-led non-profit farm in Chicago, Illinois working to build a more just and equitable local food system. They aim to address the inequities and structural racism that exist in the food system and in communities of color. and hear about the exciting programs they are implementing to not only raise delicious, healthy food, but also to help create systemic change and economic opportunities for their urban community. Come see their well-established South Chicago Farm, and a newer farm project close by called Green Era Urban Farm and Renewable Energy Campus that will support local compost development.

This field day is supported by NIFA, USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.