Join the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition for this information-packed field day about organic and conventional weed management. Learn what your weeds are telling you about your soil! Brisket Lunch Included!

Leaders in soil health will walk through their experiences with weed management, and will also be available for networking, discussion, and questions.

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

• Luke Peterson – Farmer

Luke Peterson isn’t your normal, everyday farmer. He operates his farm alongside his wife Ali and three kids Esther, Orville, and Oaken. Surrounded by corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see, the farm stands out as a beacon of diversity and soil health. To his neighbors, they’re crazy. But to regenerative food and farming advocates, the Petersons are revolutionaries. The farm offers a glimmer of hope for a healthier food and farming system, showcasing that soil health can translate to healthier food and happier farmers.

• Dorian Gatchel – Agronomist

Dorian is a fifth generation Gatchell from the family farm where his parents are still actively continuing the traditions of raising livestock and crops.  Other than his time in the Air Force, he’s been involved in agriculture, in some form, for all of his life.  When he was young, he watched his family raise crops and care for their livestock as if they were a part of them. His curiosity and desire to learn more about agriculture propelled him into agronomy; he holds a Masters of Science from Iowa State University. His focus has been, and continues to be, to learn from the past, improve it, and pass it on to the next generation. That is why he strives to incorporate the economic, technological and stewardship aspects of agronomy into his work.  It is only ours once.

• Tom Cotter – Farmer and 2025 Minnesota Leopold Conservation Award Winner!

Tom is a fourth-generation farmer from southern Minnesota. Growing up doing full tillage, Tom began experimenting with cover cropping in the late 1990s and soon began to see the drastic differences between covered and tillage fields. In 2010, he began using a strip till bar to reduce his tillage practices, and in 2015 began raising 100% grass-fed cattle. This combination of cover cropping, reduced tillage, and livestock grazing has contributed to soil health exponentially. He keeps things diverse on the fields by using large multi species cocktails, interseeds 4-8 species into his corn, and grazes every acre.

• Mark Gutierrez – Executive Director of the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition

Mark Gutierrez joined the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition in the spring of 2021 as the Executive Director. Mark helps carry out the mission of the state’s largest farmer-led soil health mentor network providing soil health resources, information, education, research, and mentorship to farmers across Minnesota. Mark works behind the scenes managing grants, coordinating with partner organizations, planning soil health schools, field tours, meetings and school visits, coordinating on-farm research, and communicating the benefits of soil health management practices through various media outlets. Mark grew up on a farm in New Mexico. He graduated from New Mexico State University with a M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics, and previously worked for the USDA as an Agricultural Statistician, and Deputy Director for the RMA crop insurance program for the Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin crop insurance region.

Location: Purple Ribbon Plaza Building at Mower County Fairgrounds, 700 12th St SW, Austin, MN 55912