Marbleseed Conference 2025 - Session

Aaron and Joe each run custom grazing businesses on rented land. Aaron will share why a custom grazing enterprise fits his business and how it may fit yours, too. He'll cover the customer service aspects of the custom grazing enterprise. Joe will describe how he finds landowners and cattle owners to work with, as well as the importance of good contracts to protect yourself. There will be lots of time for discussion and questions, so come curious!

How can Upper Midwest organic fruit growers scale up to meet the burgeoning unmet demand for local, organic fruit in regional grocery stores, food processors, and institutions? Join these experienced farmers as they discuss what wholesale buyers expect in price, volume, quality standards, and food safety practices. Learn if these larger markets are a good fit for your fruit farm, how to approach wholesale buyers, and how to cultivate a successful business relationship with them.

Over 30 years of growing organic vegetable crops herbicide drift has been a persistent challenge on our farm. As weeds and insects develop resistance our conventional neighbors chemical cocktails get stronger. Drift can travel and it can be impossible to prove where it
came from. This problem is not going away. What can organic growers do to mitigate losses to drift? This workshop is a time for sharing hard lessons learned, recognizing damage, tactics to reduce losses, how to report drift and what to expect when you do.

Learn from our SARE funded research exploring tractor scale solutions for intensive vegetable production based on no-till/low-till principles including: what tools and cultural practices have worked best for our farm, why we chose to implement this system, soil health implications, and how we hope to continue improving our practices.