Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The longest-running, farmer-oriented event dedicated to practical soil management in Minnesota is happening soon. The 19th annual Soil Management Summit (SMS), formerly known as the Conservation Tillage Conference (CTC), will be held next month in Alexandria at the Arrowwood Resort (2100 Arrowwood Ln. Alexandria, MN) on Dec. 7-8.

The SMS is known in the Upper Midwest for its emphasis on proven farmer experience complemented by applied science. Those who register will hear from long-time no-till, reduced tillage, and cover crop farmers as they share their experiences, so their peers might be spared the same hard-earned lessons. This year, the SMS committee is thrilled to announce that the keynote speaker will be the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Thom Petersen.

“We are very excited to welcome Thom Petersen as our keynote speaker,” said Jodi DeJong-Hughes who is an Extension Educator at the University of Minnesota and leads the SMS planning committee. Commissioner Petersen will discuss challenges and opportunities in soil management as it relates to agricultural production. Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s soil conservation initiatives include soil health equipment grants available to producers, as well as the Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification Program.

Attendees at this year’s SMS will have the opportunity to learn about many aspects of soil health in one of the 15 different sessions including fertility considerations for various soil health practices, understanding and harnessing soil biology, the utility of biological amendments, disease and weed considerations in cover crop systems, analyzing and applying manure and compost, the economics of various soil health practices, managing water in soil health cropping systems, and many more trending topics.

The farmer panel and consultant panel are favorites of SMS attendees and will be back again this year with ample time for questions followed by beer, hors d’oeuvres, and networking.

Participants can register now for a single day or join fellow soil enthusiasts with a two-day pass for presentations, panels, and discussions. Advanced Crop Advisors can earn up to 8.5 of 18.5 available continuing education units (CEUs). To help with the cost of registration, scholarships will be available for interested producers.

The annual Soil Management Summit is presented by University of Minnesota Extension and the Minnesota Office for Soil Health with support from Saddle Butte Ag, Minnesota Corn Growers, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, and other sponsors and exhibitors listed on the event webpage.

For more information and to register, visit z.umn.edu/sms, or contact Shane Bugeja, sbugeja@umn.edu.