Soil Health and the Benefits of Regenerative Agriculture

The Climate Change Coalition of Door County will host a panel discussion with four area farmers to speak about their conservation farming efforts and the ways they’re building resiliency Thursday, January 13, 2022 at 7:00 pm at the Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor, WI. This in-person program is free and open to the public. Facial masks are highly encouraged.

LIVE STREAM OPTION AVAILABLE. Please use this page to register to receive the Zoom meeting link via email. Registration is not necessary for in-person participation.

Panelists include:

• Lauren Brey, focusing on rotational grazing. Brey is a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Sturgeon Bay and co-owner of Brey Cycle Farm, which has increasingly deployed cover crops, no-till farming and other conservation techniques to improve soil health and water quality. She is managing director of Farmers for Sustainable Foods, which supports farmer-led solutions to environmental challenges.
• Lee Kinnard of Kinnard Farms, speaking about manure and carbon sequestration. Kinnard Farms is a large family-owned dairy and crop farm in Kewaunee County that has adopted various sustainable practices to protect and enhance soil and water resources. Kinnard is vice president of Peninsula Pride Farms, a farmers’ collaboration in Kewaunee and southern Door counties, and serves on the board of Farmers for Sustainable Food.
• Mike Polich, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, discussing organic farming. After his father sold his herd, Polich and his wife Katie purchased the farm, bought 50 cows and started transitioning the land and animals to organic methods. Since then his family’s farm has grown to more than 200 head of cattle and 1,000 acres of cropland, all certified organic.
• Chris Schuh of Door Karma Farms, explaining composting techniques. Door Karma Farms produces certified organic beef, lamb, chicken, pork and vegetables, all antibiotic-, pesticide- and hormone-free. The operation incorporates many climate-friendly practices; in addition to composting, Schuh uses solar well pumps, buffer strips, fallow zones and wildlife restoration zones.

Moderated by Jamie Patton, senior outreach specialist with UW-Madison’s Nutrient and Pest Management Program. Patton provides education and technical expertise to farmers, organizations, and agencies to improve soil health with a goal of achieving food sovereignty, farm profitability and resiliency, and ground and surface water quality.

Patton will open the session with an introduction to soils and the connection between soil health and carbon sequestration. She’ll then engage the panelists in a discussion, followed by a Q&A with the audience.