Farmers from across Manitoba will meet in Brandon in November to learn about regenerative agriculture’s newest practices and innovations.
The 2024 Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) Regenerative Ag Conference will bring speakers from across North America who will share their expertise on the future of farming and how it can be done responsibly.
“We’re a regenerative-based pasture management group and focus on protecting grasslands, the environment, and renovating pasture,” said MFGA chairman Michael Duguid, who operates a beef farm based near Arnes.
“This is our seventh conference, and we are a board made up of diverse farmers who share innovative ideas.”
The MFGA website says regenerative agriculture is an approach to farm and ranch management that aims to reverse climate change through practices that restore degraded soils. It adds that rebuilding soil’s organic material and biodiversity increases the amount of carbon drawn from the atmosphere and improves soil fertility and the water cycle.
Some common practices include no-till or minimum tillage techniques, cover crops, crop rotations, compost, and managed grazing.
Duguid says this encourages rest periods for the land and helps distribute manure throughout fields to promote plant sustainability and growth.
“We operate with five core principles,” Duguid says. “Keep the soil covered, keep disturbance of the land low, ensure plant diversity in fields, help the living roots systems in plants, and integrate livestock if possible.”
“This all helps rejuvenate the soil for the next year and has environmental and economic benefits. You put more carbon in the soil, wildlife can thrive, and you get to protect grasslands.”
This year’s conference will welcome speakers close to home from Manitoba and Saskatchewan but also from as far as Bluffton, GA, and Wolford, ND, in the United States.
Duguid says this year’s lineup will also include speakers from Holistic Management Canada. He says regenerative agriculture and holistic management—a form of regenerative grazing and rangeland management—often go together. There will also be a round-table panel discussion so experts can answer attendees’ questions.
MFGA executive director Duncan Morrison says attendees can expect to learn a lot this year.
“People can expect a whole lot of awesomeness,” Morrison says. “They will learn from keynote speakers who work in the same field they do and will have a chance to network with other farmers and industry representatives.”
“We focus on bringing in the top minds in regenerative ag.”
He says that patience is key to this type of agriculture.
“We encourage farmers to choose their practices and share with others,” he continued. “It does take time and there are no silver bullets. If you follow the guiding principles, you will properly position your farm with soil health as a top priority and hopefully profitability to follow.”
This is the seventh year the MFGA has put on this conference at the Victoria Inn in Brandon, MB. This year’s event takes place Nov. 12-13.
In addition to the keynote speakers, Holistic Management Canada will host land and nature-based regenerative agriculture workshops for kids ages 4-12.
To register, visit mfga.net/regen-ag-conference.
