Marbleseed Conference 2025 - Session

Join the Organic Fruit Growers Association (OFGA) and instructors Jenn Ripp and David Sliwa who will introduce the basic techniques and purpose of grafting fruit trees. You’ll be able to practice whip & tongue grafting and leave the session with a knowledge of how to graft and maybe even your own grafted apple tree. Apple & pear rootstock will be for sale at $6 each. Liberty apple scionwood, tools & supplies will be provided . OFGA members will share apple & pear scionwood for grafting at home.

Take a systems approach to developing the right genetics for your farm! You can breed animals that fit your system AND produce high quality, consistent meat that commands the best prices, however you market them. Topics will include developing selection criteria and culling strategies as well as body condition scoring, frame scoring, and assessing finish.

Storing crops for winter sales is a great way to diversify crops and markets, spread workload more-evenly throughout the year, and improve local food security! This workshop will help storage-newbies over the learning curve and provide some perspective and tips to seasoned storage farmers. With tips from successful storage farms across the country, this workshop will cover harvest/processing logistics and equipment; methods for curing and storage; and functional storage infrastructure.

To kick off the session, Nicole will present the results of research conducted on 6 farms in southern WI to identify the nitrogen credit of various summer cover cropping practices on corn. We will present data on cover crop biomass and nitrogen production, cover crop effects on soil nitrogen content preplant and mid-season, and on corn nitrogen uptake and ultimately, yields. A nitrogen credit will be calculated for each cover crop type via analysis of a corn yield response curve to a nitrogen fertilizer series in both cover cropped and non-cover cropped treatments. Our data will help producers to replace off-farm inputs of nitrogen with on-farm legume N sources while ensuring total nitrogen managements meets corn requirements to maximize yields and economic returns.

Following Nicole's presentation, a panel of farmers including Leon Atwell and Glen Philbrick will have a Q&A on how they have improved soil health by using cover crops.

Native plants attract thousands of species of pollinators, beneficial insects, and countless important microbes that support healthy and resilient agroecosystems. In this session, we will share practical strategies for integrating native perennial habitat on farms with an emphasis on using transplants for establishment. We will discuss the relative efficiencies of starting habitat plantings from plugs vs. seed, and explore complementarities of propagating and maintaining native plants alongside other farm enterprises. Xerces Society staff and farmer collaborators will showcase innovative habitat creation practices, time-saving site prep options, species selection strategies, cost considerations, plant procurement and propagation techniques, as well as humbling lessons and happy successes in growing diverse, on-farm habitats.

Are you a farmer trying to figure out a pathway to long-term land access? Join us for a session on alternative funding options tailored to support your regenerative, organic, and possibly collective farming dreams. Featuring Dirt Capital Partners, Proofing Station, Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT, along with UW Center for Cooperatives, this session will illuminate pathways to land access through creative and supportive financing. Discover how alternative lenders go beyond traditional loans and business structures. Hear case study examples on how their funds helped young and BIPOC farmers in the Midwest and beyond. There will be time for small group discussions with the presenters for participants to better understand the benefits of partnering with impact-driven lenders and develop strategies to secure land ownership through alternative approaches.