ST. PAUL, MN – The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) welcomed a capacity crowd at its inaugural Urban Ag Conference, held on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota on January 13.
More than 100 attendees had the opportunity to connect in a variety of ways on the issues and opportunities facing agriculture in an urban setting. The day started with a round robin-style networking and knowledge share session with participants from the Minnesota Farm Bureau, University of Minnesota Extension, Compeer Financial, University of Minnesota, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and farm business management.
During lunch, participants heard from state leaders in Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Department of Agriculture (MDA) Assistant Commissioner Patrice Bailey, Sen. Aric Putnam, Rep. Samantha Vang and MFBF President Dan Glessing.
Three afternoon panels featured topics that surfaced among the most pressing issues facing urban agriculturists: land access, water usage and grant/funding assistance.
“It was exciting to see the energy and hear the conversations throughout the day,” said Rachel Reisig, MFBF Director of Communications and event organizer. “It was great to see the passion of those involved in agriculture, and we look forward to continuing those conversations throughout the year.”
The conference was made possible by a grant from the USDA Urban, Indoor and other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education and Extension Initiative (UIE).
