Annual regenerative agriculture conference back next month

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Forage & Grassland Association’s annual regenerative agriculture conference is back this November in Brandon, focusing on how producers can leave a healthy legacy for their families, their businesses, and the land.

The two-and-a-half-day event, taking place Nov. 13-15 at the Victoria Inn in Brandon, is the Manitoba Forage & Grassland Association’s (MFGA) sixth annual regenerative agriculture conference, and will feature both national and international keynote speakers, local producer panels and a tradeshow.

Andrea Hamilton, one of the co-chairs of the conference, helped to come up with the theme of “Building the Legacy,” which puts a spotlight on regenerative agriculture and how it can leave a lasting, positive legacy on the land.

“A lot of people are building a new legacy within this generation, and different mindsets of different producers are coming into the industry, bringing in different practices,” she said.

“All our panels really shine, because they’re all producer-led and made up of industry leaders within our province and Saskatchewan,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton is glad that the conference takes place in Brandon, as it gives producers in the Westman area the chance to get together and learn more without having to travel to Winnipeg, where many other events take place.

“The conference helps show the different demographics of the province because it brings in some of the Parkland and some of the Westman areas that are drier than what’s closer to the Red River Valley,” she said.

Hamilton has already heard from producers who are planning to attend the conference about what they’re most looking forward to.

“They’re really excited to see some of the people they’ve seen here before, and other people are excited about hearing people that they don’t often get to hear from, because they’re from the States, or from eastern Canada,” she said.

The trade show portion of the event is a great chance for attendees to get some networking in, says Duncan Morrison, MFGA’s executive director.

“We approach the tradeshow as an inclusive, peer-to-peer network, so people can go and see their friend they haven’t seen or just catch up,” he said. “It’s all about that peer-to-peer interaction. The trade show provides an extra layer of that.”

It’s important for producers who tackle agriculture with the same goals in mind to have the chance to get together and discuss their work with each other, Morrison said.

“All the producers that are going to be part of this are like-minded. They’re all people that are interested in soil health, they’re all people that are interested in regenerative agriculture,” Morrison said.

He also hopes that the conference can act as a way to educate people who are looking to learn more about regenerative agriculture, even if they haven’t adopted those principles on their farms yet.

“MFGA represents the early adopters of regenerative ag, and we want to share how we’re farming,” he said.

To register for the event or to learn more about it, visit mfga.net.

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