Sharing Stories:
Growing Relationships with the Land Webinar Series
Growing Relationships with the Land Webinar Series:
Our shared goal is to amplify the stories of people who are using conservation practices that have important regenerative potential while reducing the impacts on climate change.
These practices improve soil health and water quality -- and grow deep connections to the land and those who came before them. These are stories from practitioners, people with their boots on the ground, soil under their fingernails. Together, these storytellers are from different backgrounds, cultures, and generations.
Crucially, we are at a critical moment where we need to hear the perspectives of pathbuilders who are catalyzing change in themselves and their communities. Together, we can build a positive rural vision, one that builds stronger lives, livelihoods, lands. We change -- when our ideas about what is possible change.
This is webinar series is a project partnership between the University of Minnesota Morris Office of Sustainability, Stevens Soil & Water Conservation District and CURE (Clean Up the River Environment) in cooperation with the Land Stewardship Project as part of our work as a WC-WRW team, with support from the Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.
A six part series Tuesdays at 12pm (Feb 16, March 9, March 30, April 20, May 11, June 1, 2021) via Zoom.
February 16, 12PM: Abbey Dickhudt
Join our discussion with Abbey Dickhudt as we learn about the experiences of an emerging farmer. Abbey is a recent graduate of UMN Morris and has farmed for several years at community-supported-agriculture (CSA) businesses in Minnesota. Abbey is investigating the agricultural landscape to see what she can learn, and exploring how she can build a livelihood on the land.
See the recording at left or check it out on the CURE YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuPMrznauG8
March 9, 12PM: Bryan Simon
Join our discussion with Bryan Simon as we learn from the experiences of a family blending their love of prairie, water and operation in Barrett, Minnesota. We will discuss the challenges of returning conventionally-farmed land to a restored prairie for grazing and living next to a farm on a lake. We will explore Bryan’s experiences and education that led his family to take a big leap, purchase their own land, and launch their family farming operation.
See the recording at right or check it out on the CURE YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVbNmRaCukI
March 30, 12PM: Jessica Blair
Join our discussion with Jessica Blair as we dig into the challenges of converting their family’s land from conventional farmland into pasture, all while raising six children. What are the challenges and opportunities for women in agriculture and what inspired her to want to be connected to the land and her animals in Starbuck, Minnesota. Jessica did not grow up in a farm family, but decided to build one.
See the recording at left or check it out on the CURE YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFCd4LLRoSQ
June 1, 12PM: Ella Robertson & Eric Wana
Join our discussion with Ella Robertson and Eric Wana from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate near Peaver, South Dakota, who are role models of the idea of Indigenuity -- the hard work, perseverance, entrepreneurial spirit and resilience in working to recover traditional farming methods and practices. With deep connections to the land, we will discuss their current projects and practices, and what they are working to pass along to future generations.
This webinar is hosted on Zoom, available at this link:
Check out the event on our Facebook page
May 11, 12PM: Carrie Redden
Join our discussion with Carrie Redden about her efforts to breathe new life/write a new story for into their 6th generation family farm. Carrie converted conventional farmland into pasture for their family’s organic dairy operation in Chokio, Minnesota. We explore the learning curve required for this endeavor, when she and her husband did not grow up farming. Carrie is an entrepreneur who is learning by doing, while deepening her relationship with the land and her animals.
This webinar is hosted on Zoom, available at this link:
Check out the event on our Facebook page
April 20, 12PM: Mark Erickson
Join our discussion with Mark Erickson as we reflect on his long journey in family farming, including the challenge of rethinking what farming meant for him, and the process of persuading other landowners to allow him to convert their land to pasture for his animals over the past decade around Morris, Minnesota.
See the recording at right or check it out on the CURE YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8mXyAPO_l0
The full list of webinar videos, as well as the short documentary versions, can be found on the CURE YouTube channel