This free, virtual meet-up series is for producers who want to exchange ideas and advice for troubleshooting on-farm challenges related to improving soil and water resources.
Have you found yourself wishing you could talk to other producers who are using or considering conservation practices to improve their soil, land, and bottom lines?
Whether you lack peers in your community whom you can talk to, or you just want to hear what producers elsewhere are doing and learning, this meet-up series is for you.
Join us! Register below.
Who can join
Good Idea Shop Talks is for row crop and livestock producers who could be anywhere on their conservation journey – whether you are just “conservation curious” or you are already doing cover crops, prairie strips, no till, managed grazing, or other conservation practices.
The Shop Talks are intended for producers in the following states of the Mississippi River Basin: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. But we welcome producers from other states.
How it works
In each Shop Talk, a producer will kick off the conversation by presenting a challenge they are experiencing with an in-field or edge-of-field conservation practice for the group to workshop. This producer is called the “pitcher.”
Then the group talks it out and problem solves together, with opportunities to share your own experience and soak up the lessons others have learned.
The focus is on conversation and learning together as peers – there will be no formal presentations from “experts”! So come ready to be an active participant.
Register for the Winter 2025 Season
Dates: This season of Shop Talks starts with a post-harvest “bonus” on Thursday, December 12th, 2024 and resumes in the new year for three weeks on Thursdays, January 23rd, 30th, and February 6th, 2025. You can come to all of them or just the ones that fit your schedule and interests.
Time: 11:30am CT / 12:30pm ET – Take your lunch break with us!
Place: Zoom. We will send instructions for participating via Zoom for those who need it.
Register for the Shop Talks you can attend with the link above.
*Each season is a set of 3 weekly meet-ups. They take place in the winter and summer.
Shop Talks Line-up
December 12th, 2024
Wisconsin producer(-ish) and ag retailer Matt Oehmichen wants to know, How do you know your conservation practices are working, and how are you measuring progress?
January 23rd, 2025
Wisconsin producer Matt Hintz wants to know, How can we help young, undercapitalized producers do conservation and compete in agriculture’s financial environment?
January 30th, 2024
TBD
February 6th, 2025
TBD
Questions? Contact Amanda Gumbert or Jenny Seifert.