Strategic Farming Workshop Series

Join U of MN Extension this winter to discuss some of the key issues and questions around commodity crop production facing Minnesota farmers today through the “Strategic Farming: Let’s Talk Crops” webinar series. This live, online program will provide up-to-date, research-based information to help optimize your crop management strategies for 2025. Sessions will be held over Zoom, which can be accessed via your computer, phone or other mobile device, and run from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesdays, January 8 through March 26, 2025.

Sessions will be very informal and open to all interested. Each session will start with a brief presentation by the discussion leaders for the day, followed by discussion framed around farmer/participant questions on the topic.
Topics and speakersJanuary 8: N management given current crop & input economics - Fabian Fernandez, Extension nutrient management specialist and Brad Carlson, Extension educator-water quality
January 15: Targeted spray technology - Rodrigo Werle, weed scientist, University of Wisconsin
January 22: LIVE at the MN AG EXPO - Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) - Anna Cates, state soil health specialist, and other industry and commodity group representatives
January 29: Soybean crop modeling to help farmers make successful decisions - Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist and Annibal Cerrudo, visiting professor (Argentina)
February 5: Managing weeds with more than just herbicides - Debalin Sarangi, Extension weed scientist, Tom Peters, Extension sugarbeet agronomist, and Eric Yu, Extension educator-crops
February 12: Navigating the corn maize - new trends in corn production - Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist and Adam Birr, executive director, CEO, MN Corn Growers Association
February 19: Using multi-state trials to address key cover crop questions in soybean - Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist and Axel Garcia y Garcia, sustainable cropping systems specialist
February 26: Keeping track of changes in corn insect challenges - Fei Yang, Extension corn entomologist
March 5: Corn and soybean diseases - looking back as we look forward - Dean Malvick, Extension plant pathologist
March 12: Data driven decisions - Determining what really affects the bottom line - Jennifer Rees, Extension educator, University of Nebraska, and Angie Peltier, Extension educator-crops
March 19: Drones- a multifaceted management tool for row crop agriculture - Ryan Huffman, sr. research manager ISU Digital Ag Innovation Lab, Doug Houser, ISU digital ag Extension specialist, Jorden Kuntz, founder of Biosphere Drone Solutions
March 26: Seasonal forecast & considerations for 2025 crop success - Dennis Todey, director, USDA Midwest Climate Hub, Seth Naeve, Extension soybean agronomist and Jeff Coulter, Extension corn agronomist
Register now

You need only register once for the program series. At registration, please take a moment to let us know what questions you would like highlighted during the discussions. There is no charge to participate, thanks to generous sponsorship from the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council. Not able to attend a day? No problem. Sessions will be recorded and posted for viewing later at your convenience. Learn more about the program series.

Register online.

Hope to see you in January!