• aromano@landstewardshipproject.org

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) will host a workshop called, “From Entomology to Economics: Building Soil Health” with Jonathan Lundgren on Friday, March 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Lion’s Community Center in Goodhue. It will feature presentations by Lundgren and a southeast Minnesota farm panel featuring farmers Kaleb Anderson, Josie Trople, John Jaeger, and Mike Zabel. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for an additional farm partner, and $30/family), which includes a noon meal featuring a local foods lunch catered by Bridget’s. To register by March 3rd, contact LSP’s Alex Romano at 507-523-3366 or via e-mail.

This workshop will also be offered in Caledonia on March 5^th.

A challenging and provocative presenter, bound to make us think and see things in a new way… Jonathan Lundgren is an agroecologist, entomologist and beekeeper. He received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004 and was a top scientist with USDA Agricultural Research Service for 11 years. Lundgren’s research and education programs focus on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for regenerative food systems. Together with his family and laboratory team, he began Blue Dasher Farm in 2016 in Deuel county South Dakota where a team of dedicated people raise livestock, crops, and keep bees. Lundgren will present on his team’s efforts to…

· Research ecologically based pest and farm management solutions that reduce disturbance and increase biodiversity,

· Educate farmers, the public and future scientists on regenerative farming practices, and

· Address the financial feasibility of regenerative agricultural practices on a working farm

According to Gabe Brown regenerative farmer from North Dakota, “Dr. Lundgren’s talk reinforced for me the importance of thinking of my farm as an ecosystem, and in so doing, providing a home for beneficial insects, both predators and pollinators.”

Goodhue Farmer Panel: Kaleb Anderson, Goodhue — beef, pasture, hay, no-till row crops, multi-species covers, strip-graze late summer and fall forage, kernza (perennial wheat) trials, Josie Trople, Northfield — perennials including hazelnuts, elderberry, garlic, asparagus, and forage and adding pastured poultry and sheep in 2020, co-farm manager of the Main Street Project’s farm, John Jaeger, Red Wing — beef, corn, soybeans, small grain, hay, four years of cover crops, tested 60 inch corn in 2019, fall grazing of cover crops, Mike Zabel, Elgin — diverse mix of crops for seed & forage including small grains, alfalfa, corn, soybeans, industrial hemp, sweet corn, majority of farm in no-till since 2012, owns & manages Zabel Seeds in Plainview

From Entomology To Economics