Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

10/29/2026

Curious about cover crops but not sure where to start? Want to see how a small-scale grower is putting them to work on a diversified farm?

Join us for a free field day at Lee Produce and learn how cover crops fit into an annual crop plan while supporting soil health and w**d management. Whether you manage acres of vegetables, a community garden plot, or a backyard garden, you'll leave with practical cover cropping knowledge you can put to use next season!

During this field day, you'll:

🌱 Tour established cover crop plantings and learn about the benefits of cover crops, including soil health, nutrient retention, w**d suppression, and erosion control

🍓 Explore perennial crop production and see how perennial plantings fit into a diversified farm system

🤝 Get hands-on planting experience and learn how the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service can help you get started with cover crops on your farm or garden

10/29/2026

10/27/2026

Happy National Farm to School Month! We are so excited to share a big announcement-
MFAI has launched a new Farm to School program with Milwaukee Public Schools and several other local partners - including Fork Farms and Wisconsin Food Hub. The project kicked off with a teacher training on October 8, at Harold S. Vincent High School of Agricultural Science.

The initiative, which is partially supported by a USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant - will be implemented in up to 20 schools during the 2026-2027 year and up to 40 schools in 2027-28. The collaboration brings together hydroponics in classrooms, nutrition curriculum, locally grown vegetables, and co-learning between schools.

Read all about it in our latest blog at michaelfields.org/blog

10/26/2026

This will be a great summit, and we are looking forward to this policy discussion among non-profit farm advocacy leaders - including MFAI’s Policy Director Chuck Anderas.

What can we accomplish when we work together? Farmland access and transfer challenges are too complex for any one organization to tackle alone. In Wisconsin, organizations are coming together around shared goals, coordinated strategies, and a stronger collective voice. At the Farmland Summit, hear how this coalition is taking shape, what participants are learning, and what their experience might offer other states and regions.

Join us November 18–19 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Learn more: https://www.farmlandaccesshub.org/farmland-summit-2026

Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation
Wisconsin Farmers Union
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

10/25/2026

It’s the International Year of the Woman Farmer and we are so proud that our MFAI Farmer Education Coordinator Christine Johnson - a flower and vegetable farmer - has been featured in a beautiful exhibit commissioned by LandConservancyofMcHenryCounty. The exhibit opened last night at the Conservancy’s Art of the Land event at Starline Factory in Harvard, Illinois, and will move to the McHenry County Historical Museum in Union, IL, this November.

Christine farms with two other women at Wild Trillium Farm in Richmond, IL . This FarmHer knows her stuff!

10/24/2026

Hard to believe it has already been a week since Fall Fest on the Prairie! We still have so many thanks to give. The gorgeous fire pits on the research fields were a loan from our friends at Tiny Tempest Farm - and hauled here and back by our Farmer Education Coordinator Christine Johnson. They were a tremendous hit - thanks to the hard work of many kids who kept them stocked with logs.

10/23/2026

TODAY!

Join us for a Sheep Grazing on Kernza Pop Up Pasture Walk this Friday 4-6pm. Dr. Nicole Tautges will be at the field to meet folks who want to see and discuss what fall grazing on Kernza is like, and what we hope to achieve for nutrient cycling and soil building. Park by the tent across from sheep in the field north of N8832 Pickeral Lake Rd, East Troy, WI. We will have Kernza b**r and Kernza snacks to share. Call Nicole with questions at 509-432-6489.

10/22/2026

Across the Upper Midwest, we are raising dust and bringing in the beans and corn. It’s Harvest Season! But that also means it’s Cover Crop Season.

As soon as one crop comes off, or even while it’s growing, we want to get another crop in. Bare ground is vulnerable ground, and we want to keep our soil safe from runoff, wind erosion, and pummeling by raindrops. Additionally, we want to take every opportunity we can to build soil - and different Cover Crops so that in different ways.

Today, we are drilling in “Danko” rye - it will grow through the fall, be green beneath the snow, and pop right up in the spring. The vegetable farmers we are custom-sowing this for will take it off for straw next year, but the roots will remain in the ground, adding organic matter, feeding microbes, holding water.

Let us know if you need custom work like this done in the East Troy neighborhood! “Cover Crops are serious business,” says Dr. Tautges.

10/22/2026

Join us for a Sheep Grazing on Kernza Pop Up Pasture Walk this Friday 4-6pm. Dr. Nicole Tautges will be at the field to meet folks who want to see and discuss what fall grazing on Kernza is like, and what we hope to achieve for nutrient cycling and soil building. Park by the tent across from sheep in the field north of N8832 Pickeral Lake Rd, East Troy, WI. We will have Kernza b**r and Kernza snacks to share. Call Nicole with questions at 509-432-6489.